A Small World
by arabellaesque
Summary: When Embarl was given the chance to hand over his dagger and flee Athkatla, he did so without a second thought. What he didn't expect was to find unlikely allies in his travels, who all have had their own dealings with his mysterious saviours
1. Chapter 1

He fled that evening, not even daring to look back over his shoulder. In just one day his life had changed so dramatically; with such finality regarding his future as a Shadow Thief. He could never return to Athkatla, that was for certain. No, he'd have to go elsewhere, make a life for himself someplace; where his face wouldn't be recognised, where his past was unknown.

He paused when he reached the cover of the forest and looked back at the tall walls of the city. His mind was still having trouble understanding the display of mercy he'd been shown by Mae'var's newest recruits. He'd been stupid, spending one day too many at the Seas' Bounty, simply because he just didn't know where to go. He'd received his second, and likely final chance when the man had only asked for his dagger, rather than ending his life. No sooner had he left the tavern with his companions, than Embarl had packed up what little possessions he had into a bag and ran for the gates. He'd not stopped running until now.

What was he to do? He had enough money to see him through a few days, a week at the most. He had enough knowledge of survival to get by living rough until he reached another town or village. But when it came to further earning his way he was limited in his options; rarely did anyone want a professional pickpocket, and he wasn't burly or strong enough to find easy work as someone's guard. He was no cook, had little in the way of knowledge of smithing or crafting, and had only managed to work as the Guild's Torturer's Assistant for a day before passing out.

No, Embarl was limited with ways to make money; and a life of law-breaking, while not a member of a fearsome organisation of ruthless criminals, meant he'd be better of not planning to settle in any one place for long. This meant that Faerun was, quite literally, open to him as long as he kept an eye out for his ex-guild mates. The thought would have been appealing, were it not shadowed by the fact he was very much alone.

Alone, with no clue as to where he should now go.

He sighed, and adjusted his bag. If he set off to the east he'd reach Crimmor or Purskul. From there he could easily head south to Trademeet, and perhaps head to Calimport. The road was quiet at this hour of the night, but he didn't fear bandits or brigands, well aware that his stealth would provide him with more protection than his worn leather armour, and confident that although he'd given up his dagger to keep his life, his trusted shortsword still hung by his side.

----------

Aefer Murdo sat alone in the dingy inn, the last patron to leave. He ignored the steely glare of the innkeeper, who obviously wished him to retire to his room sooner rather than later so he could close up properly, and get an early night. The former Athkatla Guardsman was in no mood to comply with another man's wishes. Having lost his job only a day before, he'd been forcibly ejected from the city by his former comrades, overseen by his former superior.

He tried to work out where it had all started going wrong. In his youth he was seen as a charming and witty young man, who instantly made friends in the guard when he joined. The eldest son of a minor Amnian noble family, Aefer should have had the world in his lap by now. But instead, on the eve of his thirtieth birthday, he was alone, getting drunk in what jokingly came to pass as a tavern, that only managed to survive due to the passing caravans.

With no way of re-entering Athkatla due to Trax's manipulation of the gateguards, he'd set off to Crimmor, hoping to find somewhere to stay until he managed to pen a letter to his family, explaining what had befallen him. But now he'd reached his destination, his despair levels had taken a tremendous dive, and he'd found himself having a minor breakdown in the street. The eight ales he'd drank since then were only just beginning to help lighten his mood.

Trax... the man behind all of his agony. He ruefully admitted to himself that had he not seduced one of the magistrate's daughters then refused to court her, he probably would never have been assigned to Trax's command. Suffice to say, it had proven to be punishment enough for his indiscretion; serving under the single most incompetent officer in the ranks was a test that Aefer barely managed to deal with, let alone carry out for almost a year. It was only a matter of time until things got out of hand, as his superior didn't appreciate his sense of humour, and frequently found the most unpleasant tasks for him to perform whenever he tried to share a 'joke'. His wisecracks during the run-in with Jansen and his strange looking customers had turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back; and he found himself out of a job, and out of the city.

He wasn't sure if Trax was really allowed to expel him like that, but he had, and Aefer had been too enraged to complain vocally, preferring to object while using his fists. Perhaps the level of violence he'd shown had given more reason for his ejection.

He sighed, and drained the last of the ale from his mug, then slowly staggered over to the bar. He offered the innkeeper a charming smile, ignoring the filthy look he got in return, and made his way slowly up to his room. Maybe things were going bad -- maybe he _had_ been thrown out of his home city, and maybe he _had_ lost his job. And his pike! He loved that pike. But if this was his life at a low ebb, then there was only one way it could go.

And that was up.

----------

The horse cantered along the grassy plains, its rider being jostled around in the saddle in a most unbecoming fashion. She wasn't fond of riding at all, and would have quite happily just used a dimension door spell, would it not have led to the other Cowled Wizards detecting her location. That simply wouldn't do.

Nara Goldsheath was officially on the run, though it was unlikely that too many of her former colleagues would pursue her. Sure, they'd be annoyed for a long time, and would never allow her to flaunt her presence in Athkatla again; but given a week or two, they'd be onto the next internal assassination target, and many would have even forgotten why she'd created so much outrage.

However, until then, there were always the few who would be intent on seeing her again. Preferably lying on a cold slab somewhere; quite, quite dead. She couldn't let this happen, because she had no real wish to stop living. To this extent, riding along in the dark with the wind whipping past, causing her hair to get into the most frightful knots, wasn't the end of the world. Once upon a time, it might have been, but right now, it was acceptable.

She didn't understand why they were so angry. Of course she understood that there were some secrets only the most senior Wizards were allowed to know; but how was _she _to know what they were, and therefore know to avoid reading about them while idly waiting around. Really, if they were so super secret, they shouldn't have been there in the first place, open for the world to see. It wasn't even that exciting -- something about the godlings running rampant around Faerun, and some likely spottings in the city. What it meant was anyone's guess, but Wizard Corneil had been very angry when he walked in and saw her with the parchment in her hands.

She never had worked out why he'd summoned her to his private quarters so late, and he'd been far too annoyed to tell her before she fled. He was even more unlikely to tell her now she'd also stolen his horse.

But at least she'd managed to graduate from her studies before all this happened. She'd survived the tests she'd been challenged with as part of her placement in the Planar Sphere, which was more than could be said for poor Larz; though, really, she'd never liked him much, and it had been _much_ quieter after he'd stopped screaming. She was now officially a Cowled Wizard, though she guessed she'd have to drop the 'Cowled' part, and just be a Wizard instead. She wrinkled her nose; it sounded a bit common for her liking, and she set her mind to coming up with a new title for herself. _Enchantress Nara... Nara of the Art..._

She was so busy thinking that she didn't notice the fence that her horse was rapidly approaching. Luckily for the mount, it did, and it sailed over with ease, depositing its former rider on the ground with a thump. Nara rolled a couple of times, then shakily got to her feet, screaming at the beast to return to her. It was secretly pleased to have gotten rid of such a poor rider, and paid no heed, riding off into the distance without even breaking stride.

She stamped her foot, and glared around. She had no idea where she was, and less inclination to spend the rest of the night all alone in the dark. There were lights not too far away, suggesting some sort of settlement. She checked her belt for her money pouch -- thankfully it was still attached, so she stomped off towards the signs of life, hoping she'd be able to find somewhere to sleep for the night.

----------

Dawngreeter Cotirso was having a crisis of faith. It was so bad that he'd stormed out of the Temple of Lathander, screaming at the top of his voice as he instructed the High Morninglord exactly what he could do with his mace. He'd also given up his room, but had come to realise it was probably for the best. He doubted he'd be welcome to return to the flock any time soon -- in Athkatla at least.

Lathander seemed to be standing by him, however, despite his display that morning. He'd tentatively reached out on several occasions, and been granted the small signs of continued power each time. So slowly, he was rediscovering his belief in Him, if not the structured levels of the priests he'd once lived with.

All his life he'd strove to serve as well as he could; and to be overlooked due to some random stranger! It was demoralising, to say the least. He knew he shouldn't have challenged the man to a duel; he probably shouldn't even have gone to him with his issues. No, he should have allowed himself time to calm down, and just worked harder to appease the Divine Morninglord in all his actions. Now he'd have to do it while on the road, because there was no way he was going back to see Dawnmaster Kreel.

He ruminated on his options for a while as he sat in the grubby interior of the Copper Coronet. Depravity surrounded him, making him feel sick to the core. If nothing else, he was certain he couldn't stand to stay there for even another drink, let alone a night. The whole place was getting to him; and suddenly he made a startling discovery about himself. It wasn't just the filthy inn that disgusted him -- it was the city in general. He had little patience for the obvious greed of both the nobles and peasantry alike, the fact that everything depended on coin. Why he'd settled there, he would never know, but now he had a chance to leave, to start again somewhere new. He went so far as to believe that perhaps Lathander, Himself, had created this problem, to make him realise that Athkatla wasn't the place for him.

He stood, nodding grimly to himself, and glanced around. _Despicable creatures_, he thought to himself, striding towards the door as two men bartered with a courtesan over fees for sharing her for the night. Just past that were two men arguing over who'd spilt whose drink, both of them annoying the spectators of some pitfight. Cotirso scowled as he left the building, and then settled his pack on his back… His possessions were few, his gold was even less, but he had faith. He turned and walked down the road to the city gates, never once looking back at what he was leaving behind. As he passed under the arch, his heart seemed to lighten, and a smile crept across his face.

Yes, he was doing the right thing.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few years since Embarl camped under the stars. Back then he'd had a tent and his father for company. He'd also had a hearty meal and a roaring campfire, which were possibly the two things he missed the most. As it was, he'd managed to find a dead squirrel and ignite a small clump of twigs that managed to heat up the animal remains sufficiently. It wasn't the most satisfactory breakfast he'd ever had, but it was something to settle his stomach. Until his stomach realised what he'd consumed, anyway.

He walked for a while before he saw the caravans in the distance. He'd visited Crimmor once before with his parents, when they'd been looking for passage to the north to visit some far flung relatives. It was safe to say that he couldn't remember anything about the outpost; except that there was a small chance he'd either find employment, or wealthy merchants to 'borrow' from. If he was really lucky, he'd also be able to get a drink to wash away the taste that lingered at the back of his mouth.

He picked his way through the wagons, smiling brightly at the men and women he passed, but usually only receiving a cautious stare in return. His gait was casual as he took in his surroundings, savouring the freedom he'd gained overnight. Only a few ramshackle buildings made up the town, most of them appearing to be in fairly poor repair. The handful that looked well tended were establishments of varying services; a general store, an armoury and weaponsmith, a blacksmith and stables, and, he was glad to notice, a tavern.

The blacksmith especially seemed to be doing a roaring trade that morning, with dozens of horses already lined up outside, waiting to be reshod before their processions left the encampment. Traders milled around, exchanging news on the trade routes and bartering for goods amongst themselves, in a hope that they'd strike a better deal than was available in the shop. It was both a reminder and a difference to Athkatla; the merchants arriving at the city tended to convene at the docks when they arrived by ship or by the Promenade for those who came across land, but rarely did they have time for each other beyond exchanging pleasantries. Their aim was to offload their goods to the shopkeepers of the city, and to leave with a healthy profit before they fell foul to Embarl's ex-employers -- if they had any sense, that was.

He decided to try his luck in the inn. He'd managed to pick a few coins in the crowds, and even lifted a purse that contained a fair amount; enough to see him through a day, at least. He'd treat himself to something to eat and a drink or two, then decide what he would do after that. After all, his life was his now, and he had all the time in the world to experience it.

----------

_How _dare_ he!_ thought Nara to herself, glaring at the grinning man. There was a red mark on his cheek where she'd slapped him, and a slight cut marked where the sharp point on her signet ring had caught and tore the skin. Despite this, he was still smiling at her like a loon, and she was rapidly getting annoyed.

"Back off, cur," she hissed, drawing herself up to her full height -- this made her head approximately level with his chest. Undaunted by this, she continued to glower up at him, her hands balled into fists by her side. "You don't want to mess with me!"

Aefer chuckled. "Fiery thing, aren't you?" he asked, ruffling her hair. She shouted obscenities at him as she drew back, carefully manipulating her hair back into its flamboyant style. He watched her with amusement until she stopped fussing, then signalled to a chair by his side. "Why don't you join me? I'll even pay for your drink."

Nara tossed her head, putting her nose as far up in the air as she could while maintaining her balance. "I think not," she replied coldly, stalking towards the door of the inn. When she reached it, she turned back to look at him, a small sneer on her face. "You should count yourself lucky, brute, that I am in a good mood today. For I am a Cowled Wizard, and if I chose to, I could strike you down where you stand for daring to touch me in that manner!"

"I only grabbed your arm to stop you from falling!" he called, but she'd disappeared out of the building, and he shrugged helplessly to himself. For all her talk he wasn't scared; he'd not seen many Cowled Wizards out of the city on their own in recent times, and none of them wore robes as ripped and torn as the young girls. Still, everyone could aspire to be something important, and he wasn't going to hold her daydreaming against her.

He was just about to sit back down when a scream caused him to jump. Instinctively, he darted to the source, heading outside into the sunshine to see the girl facing a taller man, glaring at him furiously. He was looking quite flushed, trying to stammer an apology, but the woman's look seemed to be putting him off somewhat. Slowly, a small crowd formed around them, much to Aefer's amusement.

----------

Embarl cursed his luck. She'd looked like a fairly easy target; rich looking robes, despite being in a fair state of disrepair, which meant she might have some money on her. Her pouch had been hanging by her side as she exited the inn, and he'd smiled slightly to himself, 'accidentally' bumping into her as he climbed the two steps to the doorway.

"I am dreadfully sorry," he'd said with all the charm he had, flashing her a brilliant smile. His nimble hands had found her arms, helping to steady her; they'd already liberated her pouch and dropped it into his own pocket. She'd leapt back from his grasp, scowling at him furiously, then immediately looked down to her belt. He'd groaned inwardly.

Now she was screaming at him, demanding her property back. He fidgeted nervously with the purse in his pocket, becoming increasingly aware of the people gathering around. Several of them had already fallen victim to his borrowing, and he was not too keen on letting them discover that she'd not been his first target.

So with a sigh, he grabbed her by the arm once again, causing her to cease her shouting in surprise. He simply smiled at the gasping crowd, and said in his loudest voice, "Ah, dear -- I wondered where you'd got to. Let us return inside and plan the next stage of our journey before you become even more annoyed with my wandering ways!"

He then marched her past the tall man standing at the tavern entrance, ushering her into the quieter interior and ensuring he got her far enough away from the door before he let her compose herself. As she opened her mouth to launch into another tirade, he pulled her pouch from his pocket, and pushed it into her hands.

"Here, have it," he pleaded. "But please, _please_, shut up!"

Nara gasped at him as he stalked past her, taking a seat at the bar's counter. He ordered a stiff drink, downing it as soon as it arrived, seemingly weary with the world. She frowned slightly; she should use the opportunity to get out of the place, away from the madmen that seemed to surround her at every turn in this forsaken settlement... but she had nothing to her name except her purse and some spell components. Not even enough to cast stoneskin! She was in a sorry state indeed, and he _had_ returned her money. Perhaps there was more she could gain from him.

Before she had time to consider the sanity of her actions, she'd taken a seat beside him. To her disgust, the other man settled himself down at her other side, and nodded to the thief. The thief raised his newly filled glass in return, and once again drank the contents swiftly. Nara tried to hide her look of distaste.

"I am Nara," she said, turning her back on the taller of the two men, facing the pickpocket with what she hoped was a pleasant smile. "I... did not mean to draw attention to you out there."

The man slowly looked round to her and offered a crooked grin. "I used to be a Shadow Thief," he said quietly. "A day or so ago, I'd have just stabbed you to shut you up. But I don't have my dagger any more, so..."

Nara swallowed slightly. She was well aware of the reputation of the Shadow Thieves of Athkatla, and hadn't expected to stumble across one off them in a place like this. _But he said 'used to be'_, she thought, sighing slightly with relief. The man mistook it for worry.

"Don't be concerning yourself," he muttered. "Those days are past me now, and I'm not going to hurt you as long as you don't raise your voice again. You've given me a thundering headache."

"You and me both," agreed the other man. Nara turned around to scowl at him, ignoring the thief's soft chuckle. "My name's Aefer, by the way, since we're all being so friendly. I used to be a guardsman back in the city."

"What is this?" Nara asked incredulously. "A hostel for the formerly employed?"

"Seems like it," noted the thief dourly. "Embarl's my name, pleased to meet you. Both, I guess."

"You're a bit out of place here, Cowled lass," noted Aefer. "Should be running off to the rest of your lot, making the most of it while you still have them. You never know when things'll change, and you're struck out without even a chance to explain yourself."

Nara reddened, and coughed slightly. Both men looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Well," she began. "It's strange that you should say that..."

----------

Cotirso wasn't sure that a town full of travellers was the best place to spread the joy of Lathander, but He had guided him this far, and so it was obviously meant to be. He made his way to what he thought was the centre of the town -- it was right outside the local tavern, so probably a close enough estimation. There, he offered an impromptu street sermon, preaching to the passers by on the glory of serving the Divine Morninglord in all his resplendence.

It didn't take long for the hecklers to gather, but he was ready. He kept to his speech, ignoring their interjections.

"Strive always to aid, to foster new hope, new ideas, and new prosperity for all humankind and its allies..." he recited loudly.

"All humankind ain't allies, though!"

"...Perfect thyself, and guard ever against pride," he continued, frowning at the scrawny man who'd interrupted him. "For it is a sacred duty to foster new growth, nurture growing things, and work for rebirth and renewal."

"Should we kill off our old then?" A chorus of laughs.

Cotirso sighed but continued. "Be fertile in mind and in body. Consider always the consequences of thine actions so that the least effort may bring the greatest and best reward."

"So ye have tae be lazy to worship yer god then, mister?"

"Wherever you go, sow seeds of plants, tend the growing things you find, and plant seeds of hope, new ideas, and plans for a rosy future in the minds of all." He completely ignored the small child -- he wasn't sure if it was a girl or a boy underneath all the dirt -- and went on with his discourse. "Whenever possible, see each Dawn!"

"I don't like getting up before midday," jeered a passing merchant, causing several others to nod their agreement. The priest sighed -- Lathander was obviously testing him and seeing how he would cope with the heathens of the land. He would show patience and understanding as He taught, and he would show them the true God who rose above all others.

But first, he needed a drink. He picked his bag back up, and made his way past his crowd of listeners as they continued to scoff and gibe at him. _I am above it all_, he told himself, _for He has given me the task to set this place to rights, and I will aid these vagrants into discovering the light of a new dawn_.

A stone thumped into his back as he climbed the steps to the inn and he paused briefly, the familiar rage stirring inside. Wordlessly he turned around to see the boy he'd ignored pointing and laughing, another pebble ready in hand. Without another thought, Cotirso raised his finger and pointed at him, uttering the words for a divine Command. The boy fell to the ground, snoring loudly, and the men and women nearby shrieked in terror and outrage, rushing to the child's side.

The priest turned and quickly entered the inn. _Perhaps that wasn't the best course of action to take..._

----------

Aefer and Embarl listened to Nara's sheepish admission that she too was an outcast from her fellows, and indeed, as much on the run from Athkatla as the thief was. The men clapped her on the back, welcoming her to their society, as they called it, and bought her a drink. She grudgingly accepted it, but ended up throwing it over Aefer when he voiced his suspicion on what Corneil had wanted to get from the girl by summoning her to his quarters so late.

She was back to her usual stance; tense and glaring, becoming more and more annoyed with the men's laughing when another person darted into the inn. As the door opened, the three heard a growing sound of unrest outside, and Embarl immediately leapt to his feet.

"Oh Mask, they've discovered their missing stuff," he shouted, immediately grabbing his pack and looking around for an escape route.

"Calm down," chided Aefer sternly. "I'm sure that-"

"I need to get out of here!" Embarl had spotted the rear entrance to the inn, and Nara noticed that the main door was opening, and several of the merchants were heading cautiously in.

"I'm coming with you!" she screamed, following his lead. Aefer sighed, quickly draining his glass before pursuing them quickly. Cotirso watched them run, and looked back to see the angry faces of the approaching mob.

"Wait for me!" he shrieked.


	3. Chapter 3

"Don't take any offence by this," wheezed Embarl as they finally came to a halt behind a rather gaudily painted caravan that was part of a travelling circus troupe, "but... who the hell are you?"

Cotirso was bent over, his hands on his knees as he desperately tried to catch his breath. He was aware that the other three were all looking at him strangely, and so he looked up, offering what he hoped was a benevolent smile. "I am Dawngreeter-"

"Oh Mask, no," groaned Embarl. "Just... no."

Cotirso frowned. "Mask? You're... a thief?"

Embarl stared at him. "Why else would I be running from a crowd of people who are annoyed over the theft of their possessions?"

"The crowd... were... pursuing..." Cotirso paused. _Lathander is blessing me again!_ "Ah, I see," he said, clearing his throat. "Well, I am sure that the Dawnlord-"

"I don't care!" snapped Embarl. "Look, I don't know why you followed us, but if you're hoping I'll repent-"

"No, no," said Cotirso hurriedly. "I, er..." He looked at the other two -- the tall man was muscled and quite fierce to look at. _The group's fighter, obviously._ The woman was wearing tatty robes and an arrogant smirk. _Ah, the mage_. "You see, I noticed your group was lacking a man of faith, and all good adventuring parties need a healer..."

The three others stared.

"Adventuring party?" asked Nara.

"Hah!" snorted Aefer, collapsing into a roaring laugh.

"Er, I think you've got the wrong idea," said Embarl with a worried expression. "We've only just met..."

"Then I won't be at a disadvantage in your company," beamed the priest, seeming to think that this was the end of it. Embarl was about to disagree, but they were disturbed at that point by a filthy little girl who scowled hatefully at them.

"Me pa wants tae talk tae ye," she muttered. "If ye be fer hire, that is."

Embarl opened his mouth, preparing to set her right when Aefer spoke first.

"We are indeed, my young friend! Show us the way!"

----------

Iztah Taheeq had been left in a bit of a predicament when his usual guardsmen had decided to abandon his convoy in order to return to Trademeet. They wanted to save the town from the problems it was facing, attacks from animals or druids or something, and thought they would be the perfect people to solve the troubles and become overnight heroes. Even his offer to pay them double their normal fee wasn't enough to persuade their ambitious young leader to stay, and his merchandise was expected within a tenday by his usual buyer. He didn't have time to hang around waiting for the right replacements.

But Crimmor wasn't a wonderful place to find trustworthy mercenaries, and the few who appeared to be honest in their dealings were completely loyal to their current voyage, much to his annoyance. So it was with a heavy heart that he regarded the four people lined up in front of him, knowing he had no choice but to make them an offer.

"I will pay you well," he concluded, having outlined the trip to them and given them the basic outline of what the position would entail, "and, of course, there would be ample opportunities to serve on further trade journeys with us."

"How well is 'well'?" asked Embarl suspiciously. The mention of money was enough to make him reconsider his previously held, adamant view that there was no way on Toril that they would be taking up the offer.

"If we arrive on time, you will each receive a handsome figure," replied Iztah evasively. "I can guarantee that you will have at least 1000 gold coins each for your efforts -- more if we manage to make good time and receive a higher price for the wares."

Embarl closed his mouth with considerable effort, realising that gawking like an amateur wasn't going to help him try and raise the payment. "1500 each, guaranteed, and we'll consider it," he said eventually.

Nara looked at him in surprise, but he ignored her stare.

Iztah sighed. "Very well," he agreed, realising it was still less than half what he'd normally be paying. "We will set off in an hour -- your horses are by the primary wagon. Our beastmaster, Graham, will make sure they're ready for you. Now -- perhaps it would be a good time for proper introductions since our business is concluded. I am Iztah Taheeq, proprietor of Calimshan Curios, first son of Pasha Ahzbah Taheeq, heir to the Taheeq Empire of relaxation chambers in Calimport." He finished with a smug smile, seemingly satisfied with his lot in life.

"I'm Embarl," replied the thief simply. Iztah continued to look expectantly at him, then glanced briefly to his companions when no more was forthcoming. "Oh, and these," Embarl continued quickly, "are my, er, trusty companions. This is, uh, Nara, and this is, er, Aefer, and this... this is, um, our healer."

"And does he have a name?" asked the merchant.

"Yes. Yes he does," nodded Embarl. "He's called... Roger."

Cotirso snorted in outrage, but at least had the wisdom to stay quiet. Iztah nodded to them all, then let out a resigned sigh.

"I trust you will serve us well," he said, rising from his cushioned station. Two children immediately appeared, one of them being the girl they'd met earlier, and began to pack away the furnishings. "I will be travelling in my litter as we journey, so if you have any questions, please direct them to Graham. He knows our procedures well, and will keep you right."

Embarl watched as the vendor slowly waddled off to a wagon that seemed to be made of bamboo canes. Their new employer was plump, swarthy and of middling age. His voice carried an arrogant tone, and he placed his own station highly due to his obvious wealth.

Wealth that Embarl had no objection to separating him from, if the chance arose.

----------

"Roger?" Cotirso followed them glumly as they wandered towards Crimmor Weaponry. Graham had given them a small advance on their wages to purchase some new equipment, and Aefer was excitedly looking forward to the prospect of getting a new pike. Embarl thought he'd be better with a sword, or something equally less cumbersome, but the ex-guardsman wasn't willing to compromise.

"It was the first name that came into my head," muttered Embarl. "What _is_ your name, anyway?"

"Roger, apparently," replied the priest bitterly. Embarl just shrugged and Nara sniggered quietly at the rear.

The weaponry was well stocked, and to Aefer's delight, it had a selection of premium quality pikes. He managed to find one that he liked that was within their budget, and they picked up some basic leather armour for the men and a sewing kit for the mage. Her protests fell on deaf ears.

"Do you need a mace, or something?" Embarl asked Cotirso. The priest shook his head.

"Lathander blesses me with a hammer whenever I call out to Him in need," he replied, somewhat dreamily. "And I have a flail," he added, noticing the thief's strange look.

Embarl nodded and paid for the armour and pike, adding a small dagger into the pile. He pocketed the change and quickly

switched the topic when Nara demanded that it be divided amongst them.

"They think we're all buddies adventuring together," he mused as they slowly wandered back to their job. "So, we need to at least try and get on, and maybe know a bit more about each other."

A heavy silence fell on them.

"Well, maybe we're not familiar enough with each other to exchange life stories," the thief admitted, "but I'm sure we can all get along, eh Roger?"

Cotirso sighed.

"So, we're committed to spending the next few days at least in each others company," Embarl concluded brightly, stopping to address his companions to their faces. "And I'm sure it'll just be grand."

The others looked at him dubiously; Nara managed a weak shrug, Cotirso looked resigned. Even Aefer had lost some of his bluster, and seemed to be having doubts; his grip on his pike was quite intense.

"I'm glad we all agree," muttered the thief, waving them on to get their mounts. Nara complained bitterly about having to go on horseback, while Aefer seemed to be at home in the saddle. Even Cotirso, to their surprise, was a skilled horseman, and Embarl knew enough to stay on -- just.

He tried to give them a rousing smile before they nudged their horses into action, but the dour expressions carried by each one soon dampened his own sudden optimism. It looked like they had a long trip ahead.

----------

Progress wasn't as slow as Embarl had feared it might be. The wagon drivers were happy to keep a constant and steady speed, and the four forced companions were able to take it in their stride when Nara finally settled into the gait.

The route they were taking would lead them up through the Cloudpeaks and into the Western Heartlands. They'd then follow the road to Nashkel, before turning onto the route leading across the Green Fields. When they reached Berdusk, they'd follow the smaller trails that would take them on the most direct route possible to Scornubel, where the cargo would exchange hands to two different importers.

Embarl was quite excited at the prospect of the trip. He put aside the worries of facing bandits on the road, or fearsome creatures attacking while they camped at night, and concentrated on the travelling aspect. He was looking forward to seeing Nashkel and Berdusk, having heard numerous mentions of them from fellow thieves who'd left the places far behind as they journeyed to Athkatla seeking their dreams.

As the afternoon fell they saw the Cloudpeaks rising majestically ahead of them. The land began to slope up at either side, and the road wound its way into a thick forest; birches and pines intermingled with fragrant honeysuckle bushes and copious amounts of wildflowers. Occasionally they'd meet another procession heading south, and an amiable wave would be exchanged.

Graham, a capable ranger, rode at the front of the group, leading the way. He carried himself confidently, and had been pleasant to the new recruits, but not overly friendly. Embarl was quite relieved to hear that both he and several of the caravan drivers were capable fighters, who would assist should any raids be made on their entourage. Nara had also managed to acquire some components for her spellcasting from somewhere; she refused to reveal her source, but now she was coated in a rather fetching grey sheen which shone slightly as the sun hit it.

They were well into the mountains when the sun began to fall to the horizon, and soon after they set up camp. Graham seemed happy with their progress, noting they weren't far from Nashkel and had traversed the rough mountain pass in good time. He set off to hunt for fresh meat for the evening meal while some of the other men set about erecting tents. Embarl and his companions were told to take the horses to the nearby stream for watering, then make up a campfire for the evening. Despite their fatigue, they were happy enough to comply, taking small groups of the equines to drink at a time, conversing with each other about the journey and sights they'd seen so far.

Nara even went on to help Graham prepare a large pot of stew by expertly preparing the vegetables provided, and a hearty meal was enjoyed by all before guard duties were quickly arranged. The companions were given the final shift, and were grateful for the chance to retire to their tents for some rest, hoping to rest their slightly aching bones and catch up with some much needed sleep all round.


	4. Chapter 4

A large hole in the land to their left marked the site of the Nashkel Mine. Embarl could vaguely remember hearing some story about some adventurers who'd saved it from kobolds or something, and he idly wondered how much they'd made from it in the terms of coin. It wasn't long until they then rolled into the town itself, and the caravans and wagons pulled up in a clearing just past the bridge to let the procession have a couple of hours of free time.

Embarl and his companions wandered into Nashkel together, but not before he disappeared himself for a few minutes. When he returned, he'd split a small pile of gold between them and just winked knowingly. Cotirso originally declined his share, but when Embarl was set to withdraw the offer, the cleric changed his mind; pocketing the coins and deciding to use them in the name of Lathander.

They didn't stay together for long; there was a circus nearby which many of the wagon drivers had gone to visit, and Nara soon set off in its direction. Aefer discovered the tavern and disappeared inside, while Cotirso drifted off on his own, mumbling something about a 'good cause'. This left Embarl on his own, so he strolled down the main road lazily as he looked around at his surroundings. He remembered working with a fellow thief, a boy called Hagen, who'd come from Nashkel. His parents were probably somewhere nearby, still living in the quiet settlement; no doubt worried about their son in the thriving Amnian city. He'd apparently told them that he was a tanner's apprentice, then gone back to visit them one day. His father had asked him to help cure some hides, and Hagen had managed to spoil the lot, causing his parents to worry about his future in a profession that he seemed to be... well, quite rubbish at.

Embarl didn't think he visited any more -- he just wrote them letters consisting of anecdote's he'd picked up from the tannery in Athkatla.

He had expected the place to be slightly larger; as it was, there were only a small number of houses, really, and a fairly large cemetery. A temple of some persuasion was beyond it, and wondered if Cotirso had found his way there yet. There were two taverns; the one that Aefer had decided to visit, and a slightly smaller one near to a large windmill. Other than that, and the delightful river that ran past the town, there wasn't much of interest.

He sighed. It was a nice day, but he was already feeling a slight chill in the air since they passed through the mountains. No longer was it the fairly oppressive heat of Amn, but a more mellow warmth. He could feel a coolness though, and could only imagine how Iztah felt; the Calishite merchant had wandered past them before they left the encampment, huddled in layers and layers of cloaks and robes.

He looked around. He didn't really want to waste his free time loitering inside but there wasn't much happening where he was. The fair was only a short walk away and he shrugged to himself. It'd pass the time, at least.

----------

Nara didn't even like carnivals, but she felt it beckon when she noticed that Graham was heading that way with a couple of the drivers. She kept well back, walking nonchalantly along the path through the small meadow that lay between the town and the fair, pretending to be deeply interested in the flowers, the trees, and all things natural.

None of the men even looked back towards her.

When they got there, she followed them as they went straight to one of the large tents. It was a gaudy orange colour, but not quite as harsh on the eye as the vibrant yellow bivouac beside it that was providing chilled drinks to the masses for a small fortune. She realised that she was quite nervous to be wandering around in a strange place on her own, and she chided herself silently, scowling around as if to assert her authority.

_You are a mage! You were a Cowled Wizard! You have nothing to fear here!_

She nodded approvingly to herself and took a deep breath, preparing to saunter into the tent casually and look around. It only took her a second, however, to realise that the man who had brushed past her had also managed to lift her coin pouch -- the lack of weight hanging from her belt was instantly noticeable, and she turned on him with a snarl.

"Give that back!" she demanded, yelling for the world to hear. The man paused, and slowly turned to regard her.

"Give what back?" he asked innocently.

She flew at him, pulling his hand out from underneath his cloak where it still held her purse. He looked down at it, then back up to her.

"Er," he managed, pulling is arm free and scowling at her. "It's mine now!"

"You can't just steal my belongings!" she spat in disbelief.

"No? Watch me, girlie," he shrugged. A flash of a smile later and he turned, walking away. Until something appeared in his path, that was.

"I think you should hand that back," said Graham, staring coldly at the thief. The ranger towered over the boy easily and he cast a threatening shadow across the ground. The boy gulped and debated his options.

He turned back to Nara and handed out her pouch sheepishly. She snatched it back.

"Sorry," he mumbled before darting off and disappearing around behind a smaller tent. She glared at his disappearing form, then looked back to the beastmaster. He was frowning, and she could see nothing but his soft, long, brown hair, falling around his face, matching his beard in a dreamy manner. His tight leather armour seemed to hug his body, emphasising his muscles, and his breeches clung to his legs... his long, firmly muscled legs. She swallowed hard and met his eyes. He was looking at her strangely.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She nodded mutely, not trusting herself to speak.

"Okay..." he said slowly, before wandering off to join his friends inside the tent again. Nara felt as if she was floating as she wandered over to a nearby seat under the bivouac, then slowly sank down, a faraway expression on her face, her eyes glazed and her lips curled with just the faintest hint of a smile.

----------

Aefer counted out his coin as he settled at the bar, and was delighted to realise that he had enough to last the whole afternoon; or, at least, until they hit the road again. He set his pike down by his side, staring at it fondly as he waited for the barkeep to finish pouring his mug of ale, then looked around at the inn's other patronage.

All were locals, appearing to be farmers and miners. No one else from the convoy had felt the need for a drink so he was the only armed man in the place. There wasn't even a guardsman having a sly pint while on duty, which surprised him. Almost every tavern in Athkatla had at least one guard inside, who was meant to be working, at any given time.

Soon enough, though, his drink was set before him, and he eyed it with appreciation. He took a sip, savouring the flavour, and nodding approvingly to the bartender who grinned back. A few gulps later, and Aefer felt quite content.

His seat was by a window, and he let his gaze drift to the outside, watching as a few people wandered past on occasion. It was a rather... _dull_ place, he decided. Nothing like Athkatla, that was for sure. How he missed the city... He sighed, and drank some more, then pulled out a few coins and ordered a refill in advance. The barkeep was only too happy to oblige.

"Not from 'round here, are ye?" he observed.

"Nothing escapes your keen eye, I see," noted Aefer with a grin. "No, my friend, I'm from Athkatla, the most glorious city in Amn!"

The man wrinkled his nose slightly. "Athkatla, eh? Never really fancied livin' there, meself. Much better up here, where the air's cleaner, and there's less beggars littering the streets."

Aefer nodded slowly -- the man had a point.

"What's yer name then?"

"Aefer Murdo at your service," replied the fighter, nodding his head genially. "And you'd be...?"

"Oh, people just call me Bill."

"Well, Bill, this is a fine establishment you have here! Is it a family business?"

Bill nodded. "Has been, aye. Was me dad's, and me dad's dad's. And me dad's dad's dad's. Will probably end up in the hands of some stranger when I'm gone though."

"Why's that?" asked Aefer, starting on his second ale.

"I don't want kids." Bill seemed to shudder slightly at the mere thought.

"No?" asked Aefer thoughtfully. "I see your point, I think. The easiest way to turn bad a perfectly good woman, that, getting them with child. They become possessed by mood swings, they start throwing up everywhere, put on weight and then complain it's always too hot, or they're too tired to do anything. Then when the kid drops out, they stay the same, and you also have it screaming 'til all hours, puking in place of its mother..."

"Then it starts to crawl, then walk and nothing is sacred -- before you know it, it'll have its hands on yer best ale, and it'll be destroyed before ye can save it..."

Aefer nodded solemnly. "Then it'll start talking, and no matter what you say to it, it'll just ask 'why' in return, over and over again until you're driven mad by the process..."

Bill nodded sagely. "Then it'll reach an age where its hormones kick in, and depending on if ye've gotten a lass or a lad, ye'll either be worryin' constantly about what he's corruptin', or worryin' constantly about who's corruptin' her."

"Then there's the blood..." Aefer stopped suddenly, and the men exchanged a knowing nod. Bill pulled himself a drink and sighed.

"Aye, there'll be no kids for me," he sighed.

"Probably the best way," agreed Aefer, staring out of the window thoughtfully. A mother walked past at that point, a child on either arm. The small boy was screaming and trying to reach around to kick his sister; the girl was crying, trying to pull away from her mother to escape. The woman looked worn down, and she was yelling loudly at them both, her face red with annoyance and exertion.

"Aye," they said together. "The best way."

----------

Cotirso had realised why he didn't like Nashkel much. It was a small place, admittedly, but that was no excuse for not having a temple dedicated to the Morninglord. Instead, they had a church for Helm, and he'd been quite horrified when the commoner had suggested he pay tribute at it. Seeming to sense his annoyance, the commoner had hurriedly told him that there was a temple for 'his sort' up by Beregost, and this had appeased Cotirso long enough for the man to escape. But then he'd realised that they wouldn't be heading that way, and he'd taken a deep breath.

_It's just Lathander testing me_, he told himself. _He is observing my ability to remain calm and collected when surrounded by disbelievers._

It wasn't that Cotirso had a problem with Helmites, exactly; just as he didn't have a problem with worshippers of Tyr and Torm and... Well, anyone that knew what being Good meant. After all, he had enough with Talassans and Cyricists in the lands, not to mention the depraved worshippers of Bane and Shar that he infrequently encountered in the cesspit that had been Athkatla. He snorted.

No, he would look around the town and seek out people who would benefit from enlightenment. He would fill them with the joy of creativity and rebirth, and tell them of the glory of inter-racial harmony. Yes... he would be as a pilgrim would be, in a land untouched by the truth. He would let them all know of His presence and benevolence so that they would turn to Him in joyful worship, bettering the lands by their actions.

And he would start with the young. He noticed the group of children standing around outside the local militia barracks, and he strode up to them purposefully, allowing his clerical robes to swirl around him mysteriously. They eyed him suspiciously as he approached, and backed away slightly when he flashed them a wide smile.

"Greetings, youngsters," he announced. "I am Cotirso, Dawngreeter of Lathander, and one of his most faithful servants. I wish to tell you all of the glory of the Morninglord, and explain how by worshipping Him you can find the path of guidance that you truly seek."

The assembled boys and girls looked at each other doubtfully; in truth, they were more young adults than children, all being somewhere in their teens. They appeared to be quite frightened by the stranger.

"Is he anything like Helm?" asked one boy quietly.

"Oh, no," replied Cotirso, shaking his head. "Lathander places less importance on duty and justice than Helm, and is more about encouraging and aiding."

"Encouraging and aiding in what?" asked a girl.

Cotirso smiled. This was going much better than he would have hoped -- they seemed _interested!_

"In all manner of things," he declared. "Lathander believes that relationships should be nurtured and cared for to preserve the ties between all, and He blesses new life and rebirth, while favouring those who take action against such monstrosities as undead!"

One of the other boys raised an eyebrow. "He blesses new life, eh?"

Cotirso nodded solemnly.

"When me sister was born, me ma had a priest of Lathander at our house. He was there to bless the birth, she said."

"That is one service we are expected to perform as Believers-" Cotirso began.

"She said you also had to take part in fertility rites," the boy interrupted.

"Lathander does offer his blessing to fertility related ceremonies," agreed Cotirso. "As I said, the key to it all is new life and rebirth -- like the dawn of a new morning, we experience rebirth each day, and the glory and power of it surrounds us all."

The eldest boy nudged his friends, and grinned slightly. "So, you're a priest of Lathander then?" Cotirso nodded, and the boy continued. "You'd be able to bless our... fertility ceremony then?"

Cotirso pondered for a moment; he was, technically unprepared to oversee such an event, as his training hadn't covered that. As a Dawngreeter, he was only allowed to perform the simpler observations, like marriage, but the area was obviously sorely lacking a representative of his faith. Who knew when these promising youngsters would have another chance to have a true believer overseeing their event.

"I would be honoured to!" he declared happily.

----------

Embarl prodded Nara for the third time, and was successful in breaking her trance. She glared up at him.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. "Just wondered if there was anything interesting here you'd recommend me seeing."

"Erm..." Nara looked around helplessly. She'd not moved since the incident with the thief, being delightfully caught up in a daydream involving herself, Graham and plenty of the rope they used for erecting the tents of the camp each night...

"... Are you even listening to me?" Embarl was looking at her curiously.

"Oh, er, yes," she said quickly, trying to stop the colour that was creeping into her cheeks. She leapt up from her chair, and waved her hand around dismissively. "There's nothing much here, we should really head back to the wagons."

"But, there's ages before we leave," protested the thief as she grabbed his arm and dragged them along. Nara paid little attention to him, however, marching to her destination like a woman possessed.

Slightly ahead of them were the beastmaster and the caravan drivers.

----------

Aefer was on his sixth ale when he was vaguely aware of hearing Embarl's voice. He looked out the window and saw him being dragged along by Nara, and he exchanged a look with Bill. They nodded knowingly at each other again, and both muttered together.

"Women."

The fighter drained his glass and left the appropriate coin on the counter, wishing Bill a long, happy and single life as he snatched up his pike. Then, slowly, he wandered back out into the daylight and squinted as his eyes adjusted from the gloom of the inn. He looked around for his companions, and jogged towards them as the mage manhandled the thief back towards the caravans.

"Break time over already?" he asked as he caught up. Nara looked at him with disgust.

"You've been drinking," she noted.

"Observant wee thing, aren't you?" he smirked, patting her lightly on the rear. She burst into a stream of expletives causing him to laugh heartily and wander off with a shrug, ignoring her venting.

Embarl called out to one of the nearby drivers. "We leaving soon?" he asked. The driver looked over, and waited for Nara to quieten down.

"As soon as yer other friend is back, we'll be on our way," he replied.

Embarl nodded and looked back to Nashkel. It had been a bit of a disappointment, overall; he wasn't sure what he'd expected, but he sort of thought everywhere new would be exciting and full of intrigue. Instead, he'd found a backwater village -- quaint though it was -- with about as much life in it as the graveyard district in Athkatla.

He sighed, and was relieved to see Cotirso heading towards them. The priest was running.

"Are we leaving?" he asked, gasping for breath as he dashed past.

"We are now," Embarl called out to him, watching as the cleric virtually leapt into his saddle.

"Ah, great," nodded Cotirso. "Sooner the better, then."

Embarl stared at him for a second, then followed suite, and soon the procession began to make its way further to the north. They'd only been travelling for a few minutes when Embarl was sure he heard shouting. He looked back to see a group of men and women standing at the bridge, yelling in their direction. Standing in front of them was a couple of youngsters, scantily clad, and looking deeply embarrassed. Embarl threw Cotirso a look.

"You know anything about that, Roger?" he asked.

The priest just shrugged non-committally.


	5. Chapter 5

Aefer roared with laughter when Cotirso finally came clean about what had happened back in Nashkel. The priest glowered at the fighter, but his menacing look had absolutely no effect at all. Nara had scowled, which he'd expected, then proceeded to try and lecture him about the responsibilities he should have as an influential figure. Embarl had just stared at him in a most disconcerting way.

"So, Roger, there's more to you than meets the eye," was all he'd said. Considering Cotirso was well aware that Embarl was an ex-Shadow Thief now (something that normally didn't manage to continue living), this managed to sound quite threatening to his ears. He lapsed into silence shortly after, and refused all efforts to coax him into conversation.

The others chatted in his wake, though Nara soon appeared to be quite distant again, leaving Aefer and Embarl to do most of the talking. The thief and the former guardsman were unlikely companions, but having been both put into the same position with regards to their job and city, they'd found an understanding. They still had opposing views for a variety of things, however, but as long as they stuck to fairly mindless topics, they found that they got along fairly well.

"No, I prefer a big roast," declared Aefer with a dreamy expression. "Hot from the oven, served with the freshest harvest of vegetables straight from the countryside. A pitcher of ale and a roaring fire to set it off completely."

Embarl nodded slightly. "A fair meal," he agreed, "but I still hold sway to the more exotic cuisines. One of my guildmates was a Kara-tuan, and she cooked the most glorious foods -- you should have seen what she could do with some freshly caught prawns."

"I'm not really a fish man, myself," replied the fighter thoughtfully. "Always seems a bit... light, for me. Doesn't go with beer very well."

"There's a wine from somewhere by Waterdeep that can set it off quite nicely," said Embarl. "Can't for the life of me remember the name, but it's quite zingy. Sort of sets off the taste."

Aefer nodded. "Course, there's always chi-"

"BANDITS AHEAD!"

Their culinary conversation was rudely interrupted by Graham's shout, and the four companions looked up to see the beastmaster cantering back towards them, having been scouting ahead. Close behind him were seven other men, also on horseback. They all appeared to be armed and armoured, and seemed to mean business.

"Oh dear," said Embarl. "This would be our cue to... well, do something."

Aefer didn't need to be told twice, charging off with his pike thrust ahead of him like a lance. Nara was rummaging through her pouches, while desperately trying to stay astride her flighty mount, and Cotirso had begun mumbling quite rapidly to Lathander. Embarl wished he'd had the foresight to invest in a new bow.

Graham whirled his horse around and drew a large sword from his belt, joining the fighter as he engaged the brigands. Embarl soon caught up with them, his own sword in hand. He'd only ever used a sword on a handful of occasions -- mostly he'd have run. As a pickpocket, he didn't dabble in the murder trade _too_ often. So, letting his instinct guide him, he concentrated on staying on his horse, and swinging his sword around in what he hoped looked like a fairly professional and threatening manner.

The white light that engulfed them was slightly off-putting; but judging from Cotirso's relieved face, it was as a result of his actions. Certainly, Embarl found himself swinging his sword easier; his confidence felt a boost, his weapon made more contact, and his mount deftly wove through the attackers expertly. Suddenly, he felt... adept.

Aefer, too, demonstrated a magnificent effectiveness in his fearless assault. Though he was brimming over with eagerness, his actual skill was limited -- as a pikesman, he was more used to being on firm ground as he fought, and the weapon was quite cumbersome to swing about while darting around on horseback. Nevertheless, he was making a sterling effort, and managed to bring down the first of their opponents, the bladed part of his polearm neatly slicing through the man's weak leathers.

Another glow fell across the area, but this time it only seemed to affect the enemy. One by one they faltered in their actions, and pulled back at their horses, looking for a way to escape. Graham expertly dispatched them after this, with Embarl and Aefer chasing down the two who managed to make a bolt for it, cutting them down before they got too far from the procession. The thief quickly dismounted, rummaging through the fallen men's possessions before they returned, and he nodded genially to Graham.

"You weren't bad," he called to the ranger, returning to the side of Cotirso and Nara with Aefer in tow. The beastmaster just snorted in reply, and trotted away. The caravans began to move again, and soon the event was behind them. Embarl was quite pleased with the outcome.

"I think we're onto a winner here," he said quietly to the other three.

Cotirso looked at him dubiously. "You do?"

"Well, yes," replied the thief. "I mean -- look how easy that was!"

"Easy?" The priest was looking at Embarl as if he was mad.

"Well, it would have been easier had you managed to pull your flail from your belt, and... well, use it. Honestly, Roger, you're going to have to pull your weight a bit more in this group."

"So, we are a group now, are we?" asked Aefer with amusement.

"We don't have much choice," mumbled Cotirso. "Do we, Nara?"

There was a pause, and the three men turned to look at the mage. She was looking over to their right, a contented smile stretching across her lips.

"Nara?" Embarl nudged her in the side.

"Oh," she flushed. "Erm, sorry. I was admiring the... er, fields."

"The 'fields', eh?" asked the thief, grinning mischievously. She glared back at him.

"What was that thing you did?" Aefer asked her curiously. "That spell thing."

She rolled her eyes slightly at the clumsy was he described her careful incantation. "Horror."

"Nice," Aefer remarked casually. "You might be useful, yet, then."

She gasped slightly, and then stared at him with her mouth slightly ajar as he nudged his horse on ahead of them, an innocent smile painted across his face. With him no longer in range for her temper, she turned to Embarl.

"Are you going to let him talk to me like that?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't see why not."

----------

When they set up camp that night, Nara was only on talking terms with Cotirso, and he wasn't in the mood for chatting. Embarl watched with amusement as she tried to involve herself with Graham's tasks, and admired the patience the ranger displayed with her constant interfering. Eventually he managed to escape her attention, however, and he immediately bore down on the thief.

"So," he said.

Embarl waited for him to continue, but he seemed to be unwilling to elaborate further.

"So," agreed the thief eventually.

"You're not really a group of mercenaries, are you?"

Embarl pondered the situation. "We... are," he hazarded.

Graham snorted. "I don't care if you aren't, but I do know fighting men when I see them. Your big friend has some experience, but not as a rider, and the rest of you... well. You're keen, I suppose."

"What gave us away?"

"Apart from the fact you were only saved by the girl's spell?"

"Well, yes." Embarl shifted slightly.

"Nothing really," admitted Graham. "I just had a feeling. I mean, you seem to get along less than you're arguing, but that's quite normal, I've found, so I assume you've known each other a while. Just new to this sort of thing."

"Ah, yes," replied Embarl with relief, slightly too quickly. Graham gave him a strange look. He cleared his throat and continued. "We normally just perform errands, you know -- new to the adventuring life, and all that."

"Oh, I see." The ranger didn't sound convinced. "Well, at least you can handle yourselves."

Embarl watched as he strode off back to the campfire, and was sure he sighed when Nara appeared by his side, asking him to identify a flower she'd found. He would have smiled had he not already been frowning quite hard -- they would have to be careful now. They'd secured the position after letting Iztah assume they were already a firm alliance; showing that to have been a lie wouldn't rest well, and they were far from anything any of them recognised. He wasn't keen on parting way with the convoy until their return trip to Crimmor, at least.

----------

Embarl drank in the sights as their journey continued, making the most of the more peaceful days. One structure caught his eye, rising above the trees to the north. One of the driver's told him it was Durlag's Tower.

"Who's Durlag?" Embarl asked, looking at the building with awe.

"Who _was_ Durlag," grunted the driver. His name was Ed. "Durlag Trollkiller was his name, apparently. He were a dwarf."

"Hmm," mused Embarl thoughtfully. "I didn't think a dwarf would live in a tower. More like a mine, or something."

Ed gave him an amused look. "Not all dwarves are miners, boy. No, Durlag was a hero o' his time -- killed more monsters 'n' most people see in a lifetime, they say."

"Wow," replied Embarl with wide eyes. He quickly composed himself when he realised he was appearing awed, and coughed slightly. "I mean, that's not bad for a dwarf, I guess."

Ed chuckled. "Well, wi' all the wealth he'd accumulated, he decided to settle down, and that's where he chose. Not content wi' what he had, mind, he began digging underground, and disturbed creatures best left to themselves. They discovered his wealth, and took the faces o' his family, so he ended up killing everything alive -- kin or no -- an' it drove him mad."

"What happened to him?"

"Legend says he hired the best craftsmen he could find, an' had his home set out with the best traps an' wards, then locked himself away in his madness. Since then, adventurers have gone to plunder his belongings, but never returned."

Embarl nodded, his eyes back on the distant tower. He'd have to research this more thoroughly, he decided. In the days that had passed he'd convinced himself that the companions really _had_ the possibility to become a proper band of adventurers -- if he could persuade them of this, it looked like he'd found their first target.

His mind wandered back to the words of Ed, and he debated the strength and efficiency of the traps. Hundreds of years may have passed since they were made, and Nara had been good enough with her magic to become a Cowled Wizard -- he was good enough to be a Shadow Thief. Surely any protections on the place would be quite easy for them to deal with, these days.

_Hmm. Well, maybe it could be our second or third target..._

----------

A few days passed, and the town of Berdusk appeared in the distance before them. Graham seemed to be pleased with their progress as they swung from the main road onto a smaller route that would take them to the north, ultimately heading to Elturel. They'd only follow this one until it turned more to a westerly direction; from then they'd be on the remote and rarely used trail that wound its way through woods and meadows, before coming to an old wooden bridge that crossed the River Chionthar and led into Scornubel.

They'd had little other trouble on the roads; a few wild dogs and wolves had harried them while they camped, spooking some of the horses in the night, but they'd easily been brought down, and Graham had dragged the bodies of the wolves off to skin for their fur and use the meat for their next meals.

No more bandits had been sighted, and Embarl was realising how easily they'd have earned their fee for what seemed like a simple enough journey. They had at most three or four days left to go, if they travelled hard, and then they'd be paid and offered the chance to stay on. They'd only passed through a few small settlements since Nashkel, but at each one they'd been given roughly an hour to themselves; each time Embarl had acquired some coin for them to spend and they'd gone off to do their own thing. The thief would wander around, exploring and taking in the alien surroundings, while Cotirso preached to anyone who was stupid enough to pass him. Aefer would find a tavern -- or failing that, someone who'd share their ale with him for some coin, while Nara mooned around Graham. Embarl wasn't sure what the ranger thought of the mage's attention, but he seemed far too polite to say anything much about it.

Arguments were kept to a minimum by the simple fact that they rarely spoke to each other, if at all, and though the days were long and the work of setting up camp was hard, they seemed to all be in fairly good spirits.

At least, they were until they paused on the morning of their eighth morning of the journey. They were in the middle of a fairly thin forest, having just seen off a band of highwaymen who'd tried to hijack one of the wagons. Graham was checking to see the horse was okay after it had been caught by one of the attacker's blades, and the companions were waiting around for the signal to move on. Embarl took the time to look at the caravans at the rear of the procession, realising that they spent most of their time up at the front next to the stores of silks and Calimshan jewels -- not to mention Iztah's bamboo litter.

He noticed that the rear wagons were less gaudy than the front ones -- no sigils or business motifs were painted on them, and they could easily be mistaken as a separate group. There were only two of them like this, and the drivers of both were with Graham, offering their advice regarding the injured animal. Embarl dismounted from his own horse and inquisitively approached the nearest of the two, peering into the small crack that was the closest thing that came to a window.

Several pairs of eyes looked back out at him.


	6. Chapter 6

"Whatcha doin'?"

Embarl jumped and spun round. To his relief, it was only the little girl that had first approached them to offer them an audience with Iztah in Crimmor. She was frowning slightly.

"I was just..."

"You were looking at the other kids, huh?"

Embarl nodded.

"Yeah, it's a shame, isn't it? They were taken from Calimport when we left, 'n' I don't think they've been outside the wagon since then. Me 'n' Rhianna feed 'em whenever we stop, but there's never enough to go 'round."

"Where are they being taken?"

The girl looked at him as if he was stupid. "Scornubel, of course. That's where _all_ the goods are going."

Embarl winced; he didn't need to ask, but he did anyway. "They're slaves?"

"'Course they are," replied the girl. "What else would they be? What did you think _I_ was?"

The thief blinked. "But... you called him your father?"

"No, I called him me 'pa'. He likes it when we do that. I mean, how stupid are you -- I don't look anything like him, an' I sure don't speak like 'em."

Embarl ground his teeth slightly -- an eight year old girl was talking down at him, and it wasn't the best feeling in the world. "Well, I'm not sure I can stand to see this happen," he said.

"Yer a thief, ain't ye? What do you care about some kids?"

Embarl opened his mouth, then closed it, and repeated the process a couple of times. He found himself unable to answer for a while. "I just think it's wrong, okay?"

The girl shrugged. "If you say so. You'll be sad to know that when we drop these ones off, we'll just pick up some more for the return trip. It's usually only one way we take 'em, but someone up in Scornubel wanted some prettier, exotic looking slaves I reckon."

He sighed, and looked back over to Graham. The ranger was checking over the horse, but it looked as if they'd be on their way soon. He'd need to have words with his companions before nightfall -- he couldn't make a decision on this on his own.

"Here," he said, pulling out a few coins from his pocket and thrusting them into the girl's hand. "Keep these safe."

"Why?" she asked, watching him as he climbed back onto his horse. "Can you not look after yer own money?"

He stared at her for a second. "I meant that they're for you."

"Oh."

----------

"We need to talk," said Embarl quietly after he'd managed to herd the other three together as they trotted along. His conspirational stance was met with an overwhelming display of indifference. "The two caravans, right at the back -- they're full of... slaves."

"What?" shrieked Cotirso, immediately drawing his horse to a halt. Embarl grabbed it's reins and pulled it forward again, glaring at the priest. "Don't draw attention to us, you idiot!"

"Slaves?" asked Nara with wide eyes. "I always thought slaves came _from_ Scornubel..."

"Apparently these are posher ones for some client up here," shrugged Embarl. "Anyway, we need to decide what we're going to do about it..."

"We're going to set them free!" declared Aefer, a bit loudly for Embarl's liking. "They can join with us and we can help them escape from their slavery, escort them to the city where they can find passage home!"

"It's not as easy as that," muttered the thief. "They're children."

Nara gasped, Cotirso gaped and Aefer slowly turned red. Embarl tried to calm him down, but it was too late.

"THEN WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! THIS CAN'T BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN!"

Graham threw an inquisitive look over and Embarl laughed nervously to him. "He's... eager to get to Scornubel," the thief said quickly. "I told him we might have to camp for another two nights, and he's adamant we should only need one. Impatience, huh?" Embarl rolled his eyes good-naturedly, and the ranger just nodded slowly before returning to his previous conversation. The thief faced Aefer with annoyance.

"Will you _please _keep your voices down! Otherwise we won't be able to do _anything!_"

Assorted grumbling meant they'd comply and he waited patiently until they fell silent once more.

"Right, well we agree we can't just let this happen," he said, his voice lowered. "And as it happens, I think I have a plan..."

----------

"How many other kids are there serving him?"

"Two others," replied the girl he'd handed the money to earlier that day. She was looking grubbier than ever. "Me 'n' Rhianna, 'n' Stacey 'n' Penny who're kept in his wagon all the time wi' him."

"And then there's the kids in the wagon?"

"Just that one, yeah. The other one is empty -- it'll be filled when we get to Scornubel."

Embarl nodded slowly. He was taking a gamble trusting the little girl, but she spoke like he was addressing someone of his own age, even wiser than him. It was a risk he was prepared to take. "Well, how would you feel about leaving his 'employment'?"

"For real?"

Embarl nodded.

"Well, I'd just end up in an orphanage, or homeless and starving," she reasoned. "But then, I'd not have to spend the nights in his caravan-"

"Uh, yes," Embarl cut in quickly. "So, you'd want to leave him?"

She shrugged. "I guess so. I haven't thought about it, 'cause there's nowhere I can go."

"My friends and me, we'll make somewhere for you to go, but we'll need your help. Will you help us?"

"You'll help us get away from pa? Sure I'll help. What do you need me to do?"

"Well, it's quite simple," the thief replied. "But listen closely..."

----------

Graham had taken Aefer's roar into consideration, it seemed, and the procession ploughed on late into the evening to make good time in their journey. When they eventually stopped, the four were informed that they'd arrive at Scornubel by late afternoon the following day, and that they were to make sure the horses were well tended during that night's rest. Embarl nodded and waited for the drivers to head over to Graham and start erecting the tents.

"Right, time to act," he whispered.

The four took the horses through the trees to the river and allowed them to drink, Cotirso and Nara staying with them as Aefer and Embarl carefully made their way back to the convoy. The little girl, who'd eventually introduced herself as Alice, was waiting for them with her associate, Rhianna at her side. They scowled at the men, telling them to be quieter as they moved, then led them to the the wagon with the children.

Embarl found a lock on it, and picked it silently, opening the door softly and letting Alice in to quietly tell the prisoners what was happening. The thief counted them quickly -- there were six of them, all underfed and dirty. They listened as the girl explained what was about to happen, then nodded; smiles lighting up their faces as they looked at Embarl and Aefer with a mixture of awe and terror. They didn't protest when the door was closd again, leaving Stacey and Penny beside it, and Alice and Rhianna carefully skirted over to one of the other wagons that they'd identified as holding most of the valuables.

Embarl and Aefer cautiously made their way back to the river and watched as Nara wandered back towards the main area of the camp with all but two of the horses that were left drinking. As quietly as they could, the other three took the remaining two horses back towards the chosen wagons where Cotirso and Aefer tried desperately to figure out how to harness them up. Embarl watched the other men from a distance -- Nara was playing her role well, having fainted dramatically beside the campfire and secured the attention of most of the drivers, as well as Graham.

"Done," came a hushed whisper. Embarl turned to see Aefer beckoning him over.

"They securely harnessed up?" the thief asked, looking doubtfully at the higgledy looking straps encircling the two dappled mounts.

"Yeah. We got Alice to check them over. She said it could be done better, but it was passable."

"She's older than her years," Embarl muttered. "Make sure she's loaded up with her friends -- two on each wagon to keep us right. You go with Cotirso -- I know roughly where Nara's going to try and teleport to to meet us."

Aefer nodded and wandered back to the caravan. Embarl could hardly believe what they were about to do, but it was now or never. He stealthily made his way over to the secured horses that Nara had taken back with her, and cut the ropes tethering them near to the camp. Then he dashed back as quickly as he could to the second wagon, and realised with disappointment that Aefer had assigned Alice to be his guide.

"Do you usually take this long to do things?" she asked.

Embarl scowled at her and waved over to the others. Cotirso immediately set the wagon moving, allowing the horse to canter off past the amazed drivers. Embarl's own caravan was close behind, and he could hear the men swearing and shouting. Graham's voice drifted towards them -- telling them to get to the horses to pursue, but the ruckus had been enough to spook the remaining steeds and they too were fleeing from the camp, galloping into the dark forest.

Embarl reigned up his horse when they'd cleared the immediate vicinity of the convoy and checked behind them. He couldn't make out any figures in pursuit and he was close to the place Nara was aiming to travel to. Time was of the essence -- she had to be quick, otherwise they ran the risk of being caught.

A flash of light to his right was the cause of much relief. The mage ran to the wagon, clambering on board as the thief instructed his horse to pick up speed again; and the two wagons, their former prisoners and hoards of valuables continued with their escape from Iztah's company.


	7. Chapter 7

"You don't know where we are, do you?" Nara was glaring; though he knew he should be used to it by now, it was still disconcerting for Embarl. He tried to ignore her.

"I'm not sure we should go to Scornubel," he said.

"Why not?" she demanded.

He sighed; Cotirso and Aefer gave him a sympathetic look. They were huddled together between the two wagons, having travelled for a while away from their former employer. Alice and her three friends had fallen asleep almost an hour before, exhausted after the excitement and the escape.

"Lots of reasons," Embarl replied with exasperation. "For one thing, it's where Iztah and his friends are going -- so we're pretty likely to be spotted by them. Secondly, it's where his merchandise was going, which means the valuables may well be recognised and suspicion will be raised as to where we got them."

"And thirdly, you're lost and don't know to get there?" she remarked dryly.

"Do you?" asked Aefer, looking pointedly at the mage. She scowled back at him.

"I'm not the one leading us," she pointed out.

"Oh, I'm so glad you acknowledge me as a leader when it's _convenient_," muttered Embarl darkly. "And no, I don't know where the town is, where we are, or where we're going, all right?"

"Don't the children want to go back there?" asked Cotirso.

Embarl shrugged. "The slaves would probably rather go back to Calimport, but I don't see how we can manage that. Alice and her three friends are from Scornubel, but she told me earlier that even if we got them to their families, they'd likely just be sold off again."

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Nara indignantly. "Maybe we should pay their families a visit..."

"Er, well," said Embarl hastily. "For now, we need to decide where we're taking them. And then get rid of the wagons and the goods, and pick up two more horses so we can get well away from the wrath of the Calishite merchant."

The three others agreed with varying levels of compliance and a silence fell as they all stood around in the dark thinking. Eventually Aefer spoke.

"Why don't we just follow the road and see where it takes us?" he asked.

"Because it'll take us to Scornubel," sighed Embarl patiently.

"Oh, right."

"Can't we follow it until we get to a junction, then turn another way?" asked Cotirso.

"We can, but we don't have much in the way of supplies," pointed out Embarl. "And in case you'd forgotten, we're all pretty rubbish at fending for ourselves, so having us _and_ a wagon-full of kids is hardly going to be a simple task."

"Then perhaps I should help," came a voice from behind them. They all jumped and spun round. Graham stood several feet away, staring emotionlessly at them as he held onto the reins of his horse.

Aefer quickly grabbed his pike and growled at the ranger. "Don't you even think about trying to get near 'em," he snarled. "You'll take them back to their slavery fate over my dead body."

Graham raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to do that?" he asked.

The four companions frowned slightly and exchanged confused glances.

"Erm," began Embarl. "Aren't you here to demand we return all this to Iztah, and to try and kill us if we refuse?"

Graham shook his head.

"I see," murmured the rogue, throwing a look to Cotirso. The cleric peered at the ranger and offered a quick prayer to Lathander. Graham shimmered with a blue light for a second.

"Pure soul," said the priest thoughtfully. "Why is such a good-natured ranger serving an evil man?"

"Why did _you_?" shot back Graham.

Cotirso looked flustered. "Well, it was Embarl, he said-"

"For money," Graham answered for him.

The four shrugged in unison. "Well, yes," admitted Embarl eventually. "But we didn't have much choice, at the time."

"But you do now?"

"Not really," sighed the rogue.

"But we couldn't just let those children be sold into slavery!" exclaimed Aefer.

"And we know what Iztah is like, now, and we refuse to go back to work for him! Even if he'd have us! Which he wouldn't!" agreed Nara defiantly.

"Looks like we're both in the same boat, then," shrugged Graham, sauntering over to them airily. They noticed that his horse had several saddlebags loaded up at each side. "Tents and practical stuff," he explained to their curious glances. "Thought they'd come in handy for us if we're to be travelling around."

"'Us'?" asked Embarl with a frown. "You want to join with _us_?"

"Why not?" Graham looked at them. "You're almost completely useless, you survive on luck more than anything else, and I don't think you've ever thought out a proper plan in the time you've been together. If nothing else, it should be entertaining to be in your company."

Nara opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it when she realised that every word he'd said had a grain of truth to it. He grinned at her, causing her to blush wildly and try to hide behind Aefer innocently.

Embarl was looking at Cotirso. The priest just shrugged helplessly so the thief turned to Nara. Realising she'd disappeared, he just rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to the fighter. Aefer was frowning slightly.

"You knew he had slaves?" the former guard asked.

"I suspected it," replied Graham easily.

"And you never did anything about it?"

"I asked Alice if she wanted to be taken away from it when I joined them in Calimport," the ranger remarked. "She said she had nowhere to go, and she wouldn't leave her three friends. Alone, I was unable to get them all to safety then find another form of employment in a land I was unfamiliar with. Then Iztah's guards left, and I saw a chance -- unfortunately for me, he recruited you. With time, however, I realised you weren't the... normal type of mercenaries he'd have hired, and I wondered if I would get another chance before we reached Scornubel. Had I known you were planning this, I'd have offered my services earlier."

Aefer's frown melted away. "I say we work together," he remarked to Embarl. "We could do with another set of hands."

"You could certainly do with someone who has basic survival skills," noted Graham pleasantly. "And we are now back in land I _am_ familiar with. Allow me to lead us a bit further into the forest, and we can camp for the night and then head for Elturel."

"Elturel?" asked Cotirso. "That name is familiar, somehow."

"It is the nearest place for us to go if you are adamant you want to avoid Scornubel," explained Graham. "We should be safe there -- the city is ruled by the high Rider, Lord Dhelt. A paladin who commands the soldiers of the city to do what's right and good. Iztah would not dare seek justice there against us, for he would have to admit to his slaving ways."

Embarl quickly glanced to the other three. They still carried expressions of doubt, but none seemed to have any real objections that they wanted to voice.

"How do we know we can trust you?" asked the rogue.

Graham laughed. "The thief asking the beastmaster about trust? What is the world coming to?"

----------

Following Graham's lead, the group found their way to a small glade in a denser section of the forest. There he quickly erected the three tents he'd taken with him while the others saw to the children and the horses, ensuring both were comfortable as possible for rest. The ranger insisted upon taking the first watch for himself, and urged Embarl to not continue their travels until the next nightfall. The ranger pointed out that a tired group would be at more danger on the open road in daylight, than they would in a fairly safe encampment where they could get their sleep and strength back.

The thief agreed, secretly glad of the suggestion. They were all exhausted, and the beastmaster had already prepared to hunt and gather food for all of them to last the day before he rested himself. Of all of them, he looked the least tired -- small shadows had formed on his face, but his eyes were still bright with life, and he ushered Nara to a tent of her own, insisting he'd finish the rubbing down of their steeds. She thanked him sleepily, staggering through the flap as she sought her bed. Aefer and Cotirso shared another, leaving Embarl to have the last one to himself. He offered one last time to stay and guard with Graham, but the ranger was insistent that they should rest. The thief wanted to feel some suspicion over the sudden good intentions and infiltration to their group, but his fatigue was too overwhelming and he was asleep as is head hit the pillow.

It was late morning before they awoke, and Embarl cautiously poked his head out from his camp, almost expecting to see the rest of the convoy waiting for him with swords drawn. Instead he saw Graham sitting by the fire -- looking very tired by now -- with all of the children around him. They were helping him to prepare something to eat; though what it was, Embarl didn't know. He sighed with relief at the sight, clambering from the tent and making his way over as the others appeared from their own makeshift beds.

"Good morning," said Graham cheerfully. Embarl peered at him curiously; he sounded, and looked, a lot more cheerful than he'd ever been before.

"Hello," he offered in return.

Graham pointed to the game he'd caught overnight, and the berries, herbs and fruits he'd managed to forage. It was all simple food, but there was plenty of it -- more than enough to see them through the day, and the thief was touched by the effort. He was about to thank the ranger when Graham stood up and stretched.

"I'll get some rest," he said, barely stifling a yawn. "The kids know what they're doing with food, and they'll keep you right. We can move on just before dusk, using the night as cover in case Iztah's men get anywhere near to us. That way we can get to the lands patrolled by Lord Dhelt's men, hopefully, before we need to travel by day on the main roads."

Embarl nodded his agreement -- it made sense, and the ranger seemed to have a fairly firm grasp on both their location and plan of action. The thief hadn't survived this long by not knowing when to let other people make decisions for him. "Thanks," he said as the beastmaster stalked off. "For all this, I mean."

Graham shrugged. "You're thanking me for not leading you into a trap," he observed. "I never intended to, so there's no need to thank me." He disappeared into the nearest tent without another word, and Embarl went to join the others by the campfire. Aefer was playing with the youngest of the children, a goofy expression on his face. The thief found it odd, considering the normally anti-children stance from the former guard. Nara was fussing over the cauldron, and Embarl had to fight the urge to refer to her as a witch. Cotirso was trying to convert Rhianna into Lathander's worship, but the young girl was just looking at him in an odd manner.

"Graham's nice, ain't he?"

The former Shadow Thief found himself smiling down to Alice. "He is, yes," he agreed. "We're lucky he's helping us."

"Aye, that we are," she nodded. "You lot mean well, but if we'd been left wi' just the four o' ye, we'd've been lucky to even get out o' the forest."

Embarl watched her as she walked away and discovered he was grinding his teeth again.


	8. Chapter 8

It was a few days before Graham led them from the cover of the forest and onto the open land winding its way through the Chionthar valley. They followed a rough track that ran alongside the river of the same name, crossing at a shallow ford and continuing their progress to the west along the northern bank. Soon they found themselves journeying through well-tended farmland, and on occasion they'd pass close enough to a farmhouse to be greeted by the local farmer, or more often his wife, who would openly wonder about the number of children in the procession. Graham would tell them of their escape from slavery, and the women would coo, the men cheer heartily, and the children would be offered something to snack on as the two caravans made their way slowly on to their destination.

A few times each day they'd pass several mounted warriors, who Graham referred to as Hellriders. He spoke of their tendency to ride across the lands covered by Lord Dhelt's rule and their dedication to protecting everyone within its bounds. Now that the riders were becoming such a common sight, he said, it was safe for them to assume that they could relax a little with regards to Iztah seeking revenge.

It was only a day or so later that they came over the brow of a small hillock to see the town of Elturel perched atop the cliff of the larger hill before them. Although they couldn't make out much of the town, it was clearly much larger than Nashkel had been, and the four companions began chatting excitedly about what they'd see there amongst themselves much to Graham's obvious amusement.

They reached it by nightfall, declaring their intention with the local guard who seemed very interested in the tale they had to tell. They were shown to a grassy area and ordered to camp there for the evening before so one of the city rulers could come and hear their story for themselves the next day. The party nodded wearily, glad to be within the secure walls of the town and to have a complete night of rest ahead of them. Several priests of Helm appeared from a nearby temple and took the children for the evening, providing beds and food for them while the adults were left to cater for themselves. Cotirso mumbled about it for hours.

"Had it been Lathander's own, we would all have been welcomed into the fold for our acts of charity regarding the children," he muttered darkly as he frowned over to the Temple of the All Seeing Eye. Aefer just gave him an uncomfortable look.

"Well, it's not so bad really," replied Embarl cheerfully. "We've got plenty of room with the empty wagon now and the three tents, and they did give us some provisions to cook with." The thief pointed over to the small campfire that Graham had kindled, and the four watched as the ranger expertly prepared their dinner.

"And you've managed to get rid of Alice," noted Nara observantly. Embarl found himself nodding before he realised what he was doing, and he tried to quickly disguise it by pretending to have an itchy neck.

"She's quite fond of you," agreed Aefer mischievously. "Can't seem to keep away from you and point out how wrong or stupid you're being."

"Can't blame her," interjected Nara teasingly. "Must be hard to keep such obvious facts to yourself."

The mage and the guard sniggered to themselves as Embarl tapped his foot impatiently. He threw a quick look to Cotirso, hoping to get some backing, but the priest was still muttering to himself about the inhospitality shown by the Helmites.

"Fine!" the former Shadow Thief exclaimed. "Make fun of me all you will! I'm going for a walk!"

He wandered off, determined to take in some of the sights before returning to the camp for food. He knew that meant he couldn't wander very far, but there seemed to be plenty to see, and he wasn't sure how long they planned to stay in the city anyway.

The first thing he noticed was that there was not only one temple to Helm nearby -- rather there were three of varying sizes, each with its own impressively erected building proudly displaying its purpose. Lots of eyes adorned the walls, making Embarl feel quite skittish -- the All Seeing Eye He may be, but as a thief, Embarl wasn't overly keen on that idea, and preferred to think the Eye stayed firmly on the faithful followers and not the average man wandering down the street. That was a belief he was rapidly finding it hard to keep a hold of.

Rows of houses lay beyond the temples, uniformly set out and neatly maintained. A few guards were leaving and entering various doors and the thief idly wondered if the regimented appearance of the homes was deliberate; if they'd been built to serve the warriors -- what had Graham called them? Hellriders? -- then maybe they'd grown to be as uniform as the soldiers living within them.

He chuckled to himself at the thought of such a notion and wandered on. They were close to the southern edge of the city, and he was able to climb a flight of stairs up to the tall walls that bordered the edge of the cliff. From there he received a magnificent view of the lands to the south, beyond the River Chionthar. Far to his left he was sure he could make out the lands around Scornubel, past several low lying hills and acres of green farmland. The river ran past directly to the south, very close to the base of the hill the town was situated upon, and beyond it was part of the forest they'd travelled through while seeking to escape any pursuit by Iztah. The thought of the merchant was enough to make Embarl feel annoyed, and he quickly put the memory of the Calishite trader from his thoughts, and concentrated instead on the peace and quiet that surrounded him.

With Nara, Cotirso, Aefer and Alice, it was something he'd sorely been missing for the past few days.

----------

Cotirso turned around to finish his rant about the Helmites to discover that Embarl was no longer there. The priest could only just make out his form in the distance, sauntering along the dusty road towards a row of quaint little houses with neat gardens and tall chimneys. The cleric frowned in annoyance and stood up, dusting off his robes and adjusting his holy symbol so it hung down straight from his belt. Then he purposefully marched towards the nearest Temple of Helm and strode through the open door.

"Helm sees all!" declared the armoured man inside, looking Cotirso over. "Do you seek service from the followers of the All Seeing Eye?"

The Lathanderian sniffed slightly. "No, thank you," Cotirso replied piously. "I wished merely to check in on the status of the children."

The Helmite frowned slightly, a puzzled expression adorning his face. "Children?" he asked with confusion.

Cotirso sighed heavily. "From the caravans that recently arrived? The former slaves?"

A vague look of recognition lit up the armoured man's face. "Ah, those," he said thoughtfully. "They're in the Mid-Temple."

"The Mid-Temple?"

The man nodded. "This is the Larger Temple -- the Smaller Temple is at the other side of the field you're camped in, and the Mid-Temple is between it and us."

"Three temples next to each other?" asked the aghast Cotirso, turning away slowly before the man could reply. "What madness!"

The priest stalked outside and wandered over to a slightly smaller building that also had several large eyes painted onto its smooth, brick walls. He passed through the open doors and bowed respectfully, if stiffly, to the guard at the entrance before moving on towards the altar at the far side. He was midway across the room when a woman emerged from one of the archways leading off to the side, and regarded him curiously.

"Good evening to you," she said pleasantly enough, her eyes resting on the symbol of Lathander hanging at his side, "Brother Dawnlord." Cotirso puffed himself out and didn't bother to correct her -- after all, he'd been involved in such a good act that Lathander was unlikely to insist he remained a mere Dawngreeter for long.

"Well met, Sister Watcher," he replied formally. She bowed her head to him. "I am... Cotirso, the priest in the group who saw to the children safely arriving here earlier."

A warm smile spread across her face and she reached out to take his hand in both of hers. "It is a _pleasure_ to meet you, Dawnlord Cotirso," she said, her voice tinged with slight awe. "I am Watcher Annice, Junior Priest of the Southern Elturel Triad of Temples." She frowned slightly and paused before continuing. "It is strange... I was _sure_ one of the girls said your name was Dawnbringer Roger..."

Cotirso coughed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, too," he said, realising he meant it. The girl's green eyes were almost bewitching him, and the way her soft brown hair curled around her face, framing it perfectly, was distracting to him. He tried desperately not to notice the way her ceremonial cloak clung to her almost-plump figure, or the deep cut style of the tunic she wore underneath, which left a large part of her neck and chest bare, except for...

... another of Helm's eyes, which was giving him a disapproving look. He was sure of it.

Cotirso shook his head slightly and smiled to her, having failed to hear anything that she'd just said.

"So... would you like to?" she asked, frowning slightly sat him. He stared blankly at her.

"Hmm?" he asked, then realised she was giving him a strange look. "I'm terribly sorry," he said apologetically. "I was caught up in the... sights."

She nodded enthusiastically to him and looked around at the temple he imagined she was all too familiar with. "It is an amazing sight, I can imagine," she agreed. "Of course, I see it every day, so I suppose a lot of the majesty is gone to me. But I am thankful to Helm whenever I pray that we are able to devote such magnificence to Him."

"Quite," murmured Cotirso dreamily.

"So, shall we go and see the children? They have settled in well, though most were tired and hungry. I think a few are still awake if you would like to check in on them, however?"

"Ah, yes, that would be... fantastic," he nodded, allowing her to lead him through the nearest archway as she spoke to him about something he paid very little concentration to, being that his whole attention was focussed on the rhythmical swaying of her hips as she walked.

----------

Aefer watched Cotirso also get up and leave the group and sighed heavily. Nara was sitting, staring at Graham, as she had been doing since they made up their camp for the night, and the former guardsman was not too keen on dealing with a moony mage.

"I'm off to the tavern," he announced, being completely ignored by the wizard as he strode off in a random direction, hoping that it'd lead to a halfway decent inn with plenty of ale. He strode past a variety of buildings, most of them appearing to be homes, but a few having signs hanging outside proclaiming them to be general stores, apothecaries and candlemakers. Much to his annoyance, there did not seem to be a pub on every corner; a tale he'd been assured was true of every city in Faerun by his former comrades in Athkatla.

Eventually he did find a suitable establishment, however, and he was delighted to see a variety of customers within; from locals to guards, and travellers to farmers from just outside the city bounds -- the place was huge, and it was so crowded that Aefer almost believed the whole of Elturel had crowded into this one building for a pint of ale and a plate of pork scratchings.

It was many hours later, and after several mugs of various products, that Aefer discovered that he probably wasn't far off the mark. He was too drunk to understand what they were calling the place, but apparently it was the only tavern here in the upper reaches of the city, meaning it pretty much had a rousing trade every night of the week.

"Thatsh amazshing," he hiccuped, swaying slightly and leaning on his pike for support. His drinking companion, an alchemist known only as Conifer, nodded sagely.

"Thatsh a fine lookin' weapon you gotsh there," declared Conifer loudly. "It musht take shome shkill to ushe it though?"

Aefer nodded solemnly. "Took me yearsh to be trained by the besht there wash back in Athkatla," he said somewhat wistfully. "But in the end I mashtered it!"

"Would you give me a demonshtration?"

Aefer blinked slightly, seeming to sober up marginally. Then he nodded. "Shure. Come over here, where it'sh clearer." The guard moved into a space and clenched his weapon tightly in both of his hands. As Conifer approached he held the pike horizontally and thrust outwards with it, pushing the alchemist back slightly.

"Wow, that'sh impreshive," cooed Conifer. "What elshe can you do with it?"

Aefer looked confused. "Well, you can shwing it about a bit, but that'sh a bit unshkilled," he said knowingly. "That move there... that'sh all you really need. That'sh what our training wash for."

Conifer stared at him. "Why doesh it have a sharp, pointy bit at the end, then?"

Aefer shrugged helplessly. "Decoration, I think."

----------

"They've all gone and left you here on your own?" Graham didn't bother looking up, and Nara started; realising she'd been sitting staring sat him, her chin resting comfortably in her hand.

"Oh, er, yes," she said quickly, trying to control the colour seeping into her cheeks. "I'm used to it though, being the only girl." She tried to say it airily, but flinched when she thought back over her words, realising she was doing nothing but pointing out the obvious.

Graham nodded politely, still concentrating on the vegetables he was peeling. "So how old are you?" he asked suddenly.

Nara blinked. "It's impolite to ask a lady her age!" she exclaimed, a slight scowl adorning her face.

The ranger chuckled slightly. "Well, give me a range, then, and not a specific number. I'm guessing between eighteen and twenty two."

Nara bit her lip and nodded as he looked up. He smiled back at her.

"You're a very pretty young girl," he said, sounding completely serious. She looked at him with a puzzled expression for a few moments.

"Thank you," she mumbled, remembering her manners. "How... how old are you?"

"Me? I'm twenty six," he replied casually.

"Oh. I thought you looked ol-" Nara paused. "Wiser."

Graham laughed heartily. "I'll take that as a compliment," he grinned, tossing the last of the prepared vegetables into the pot and adding some seasoning. He then busied himself with sorting out two plates and some spoons, handing one to the mage.

"Looks like it'll just be us for dinner," he noted, looking around for any signs of the others. "Hope that's all right with you?"

Her eyes widened and she bit her lip harder. "It'll be... fine," she said.

The ranger nodded. "Here," he said, holding out a biscuit to her. "If you need something to bite on, use this -- can't let you go damaging a lip on a face so pretty."

----------

"Hey, mister Dawnlord!"

Cotirso snapped himself away from the rather sweet memories of recent events coursing around his head and noticed Alice had come running up to him. The girl had said hello politely to him when Annice had showed him around the quarters that the children were sharing, then he'd gone with the young Watcher to dine in her company, listening intently to her tales and life story. He'd only agreed to leave when she wished him a goodnight, informing him of her duties in the morning and her requirement to get some rest.

He'd been very close to offering to keep her company all night, if she wished it, but his sense had managed to reclaim his tongue from his loins at that point, and he'd stuttered a wish of pleasant dreams to her, then fled.

And now Alice was looking at him sceptically.

"Yes, child?" he asked with an impatient sigh.

"Why'd ye come over te see us?" she asked bluntly.

Cotirso blinked. "I wanted to make sure you were all okay," he said, which wasn't technically an untruth. In reality, he'd intended to dress down the Helmites for their lack of charity to the adventurers themselves, but he'd found Annice's company to be too intoxicating for him to clearly formulate his complaint into words. So he just hadn't bothered.

Alice gave him a disbelieving look. "Really?" she asked.

Cotirso glared down at her. "Yes, really," he said, sharper than he intended. Alice pouted slightly.

"There's no need te shout," she sulked, turning away from him and making her way back to her chamber. "But it's okay, Mister Dawnlord. I think she's pretty too."

Cotirso nodded his agreement, then realised what Alice had said and opened his mouth to protest -- but it was too late. The girl closed the door behind her and the cleric was left standing alone in the foyer of the Temple of Helm, wondering what had happened that evening.

----------

Aefer frowned as he slowly made his way back to the camp -- at least, he hoped he was making his way back. His sense of direction was never incredibly strong, and a lot of the buildings he was passing didn't look familiar in the slightest, but he didn't care. He had other things on his mind.

Conifer had been a fairly wild man to drink with. An expert on potions and explosives especially, the conversations they'd shared had been entertaining and informative. The man was highly intelligent, of that there was no doubt. Which is why Aefer became bothered when he started questioning the guard's beloved pike.

Aefer had been _trained_ how to use it, and he used it as well as any of the guardsmen in Athkatla. It was simple really, without the intricacies people suspected such a cumbersome weapon should have. All you had to do was use it to push people away from you, and if you really wanted to hurt them, you punched them. It was simple.

But Conifer had went on and one about the sharp bit at the end. Aefer's old pike, the one he'd had as a guard, also had a sharp and pointy bit at the end. No one ever used it, though -- it was almost sacrilegious to get it dirty. The only time Aefer had wounded anyone with that bit was when he'd been on horseback, and his usual method for employing the pike wasn't workable.

But what if the alchemist was right? What if his training had been wrong -- if he'd been using his beloved weapon badly all these years? It was enough to almost make him cry. He couldn't bear the thought of failing his pike, and he knew he had to discover the truth behind the wielding of such a weapon to satisfy himself. If Conifer was right, Aefer swore to himself that he'd put the polearm aside for all eternity, and go back to using the old longswords he'd practiced with as a boy. It would be hard, but there was no point in holding onto such a majestic weapon if all he believed in about it proved to be untrue.

He nodded sternly to himself. In the morning, when he was a bit clearer in the head, he'd find one of the warrior's of the town and ask them. They'd know; he was sure of it.

----------

Embarl returned to the camp much later than he meant to, and was unsurprised to learn that Nara and Graham had already eaten. The ranger informed him that the mage had retired to the bed in the wagon shortly before he got back, and the priest had dined with the Helmites before he too had returned, and disappeared into one of the tents. Embarl nodded and wished Graham good night as he went off to share with the snoring priest, spying the form of Aefer staggering along the dusty road in the vague direction of the camp. Embarl briefly pondered going to offer him some aid, but decided against it. The town was filled with priests and religious do-gooders, as well as those bloody eyes that followed his every step. Even if Aefer managed to miss the camp and pass out on the grass, he wouldn't come to any harm.

The thief took one last look around and checked the second wagon to ensure the merchandise was still safely inside. When he was satisfied that all was well, he chose the largest of the three tents to serve as his bedroom for the evening, and retired for some long needed rest.


	9. Chapter 9

Embarl awoke the next day to the sound of someone shouting out his name over and over again. It took him a few minutes to register what was happening, but as he groggily shook his head and sat up he recognised the owner of the voice. He groaned loudly, rolling over to the flap of the tent to peer out and confirm his suspicions.

Alice smiled when she saw him, which was enough to throw him off guard. He stared back at her, wondering what was wrong -- maybe she was ill? In all the time he'd known her -- which admittedly, wasn't very long... come to think of it, he hadn't know _anyone_ in his life now for very long -- she'd never wore any expression that wasn't dour or bored. A long silence passed between them.

"Ye gonna get up then?"

He frowned slightly. "I was... about to," he lied. "I was just taking some time to myself before I emerged from the tent."

"D'ye normally snore when ye do that?"

Embarl found his teeth grinding together, his fists clenching into balls. Alice's smile just appeared to grow even wider.

"The clerics've asked me te tell ye that ye can all come in fer breakfast te meet the big guy."

"The 'big guy'?" Embarl blinked.

"Aye," replied Alice helpfully before wandering off. If it had been anyone else, he'd have called out, asked for more information, but as it was, he felt a slight sense of relief. The bewilderment he felt over the upcoming meeting was nothing in comparison to gladness at Alice's departure.

"She'll be meaning Lord Dhelt," remarked Graham, appearing from behind a tent fully dressed and seemingly freshly cleaned. "We'd best get ready to go in."

Embarl nodded, withdrawing back into his tent to rummage through his pack in the hope that there'd be something magical to help revitalise work out clothing. Unfortunately, there was nothing -- he'd have to do something about that as soon as possible. Instead he tried to smooth out his clothes as best as he could -- he called out to ask if he should wear his armour or not, and Graham replied with a not -- they were perfectly safe in the city unless the Lord felt they were a threat, and if he did, armour wasn't going to save them -- so he dusted off his tunic, shirt and trousers as best as he could, reluctantly left his hood behind and stepped out from the tent, feeling his clothes hang around him loosely, two sizes too big without the leather to bulk up underneath them.

They all stood and stared at each other.

Nara was the same as usual, but she seemed to have got round to using the sewing kit they'd splashed out for her -- the rents in her robes were all fixed, except for one that had caught ripped from her neck down to her cleavage. Embarl noted how she'd used the tear to adjust the style of her gown to a much more plunging neckline -- it also looked much cleaner than before. Her hair had been freshly washed and brushed, pinned back away from her face with a few wild flowers entwined. Overall, she looked quite nice, he noted.

Cotirso looked as if he was walking on air without the weight of his chainmail keeping him grounded. He still wore his travellers robe and cloak; the robe painfully clean where the armour usually covered it, and only magnifying the dirt everywhere else. Thankfully, Embarl noted, the cloak swirled around him, covering it all up with its own brand of messiness, the cleric's trusty holy symbol poking through occasionally.

Aefer was leaning heavily on the side of one of the wagons, looking rough indeed. His beard was untrimmed and bushy, his hair was lying in all directions at once and his eyes were red and glazed as he stared somewhere in the distance. Without his platemail he was dressed simply in a shirt and trousers, both quite clean, much to Embarl's surprise. Then the thief remembered that Aefer had been known to even _sleep_ in his platemail, so although his clothes _looked_ quite clean, he wondered how they'd _smell..._

Graham, of them all, stood out. His hair was neatly combed back from his shaven face and his jacket seemed to be tailored and new, matching his trousers in a deep green colour. He was smiling brightly, most often at Nara, who would flush and look away, her hand going up to one of the flowers in her hair. Embarl frowned slightly -- did she really think Graham wanted a flower for himself? He was a ranger, he could get his own.

"Well then," the thief said eventually. "Best get this done with."

----------

That evening they sat around the campfire together, smiling and laughing. Conversation was easy, jokes were exchanged, stories shared, and wine drunk copiously, though not excessively. The meeting with the Lord had gone well; he'd listened to their story, recognised Graham's name and family line -- apparently all rangers, Embarl noted -- and thanked them for what they'd done with the children. He'd turned the conversation around to the wagons, and suggested the party would wish the proceeds from the goods to go towards the children's continued upkeep in the town, to which Graham and Cotirso had agreed vehemently before anyone else could say anything; though Aefer was in deep discussion with one of the Hellrider guards, and Nara was staring at Graham, almost as if he'd got some asparagus stuck in his teeth. Embarl squinted as he looked, but he couldn't see anything, and put it down to female intuition.

The thief had got over it though -- he'd slipped away after the meeting had officially ended and made his way out to the caravans. He'd pilfered a few discrete items to sell off for their own gain later on -- jewels mostly, things that he was able to stash in his tent without being seen. He'd cheered up immeasurably after that, knowing that the whole venture wouldn't be a complete loss, and that now they'd be able to raise enough coin to get the equipment they'd need to try that fancy tower they'd passed, way back on the road.

It'd be a challenge worthy of them; he just knew it!

----------

Aefer struggled to get to his feet -- too much good food and wine without the balancing factor of his trusty armour and pike meant that he constantly felt unbalanced. He excused himself and staggered off towards their tents, aiming to take out his pike and gaze at it one more time before he tried another weapon. The guard at the meal, Peb, had spent hours discussing weapons with him, gently explaining that the blade on his pike was, in actuality, a part of the weapon, and not a decoration. Aefer had been reluctant to believe him, but his five companions had agreed with him, and the former Amnian Guardsman had slumped slightly in sorrow.

Peb had then suggested he perhaps try one of the clubs or flails found in the market, or even one of the sturdy staves that were doing a brisk trade. _It'd work perfectly well with your fighting style_, he'd remarked, suggesting it as an interim measure until Aefer could bring himself to get over his issue with the blade. Aefer had nodded morosely, allowing the Hellriders to accompany him as he drank to drown his sorrows, paying little attention to the rest of the meeting. Despite the sadness over his pike's fate, the riders had been good company, and many tales of heroic fights had been exchanged while the wine was passed around. But now he stared adoringly at the halberd, stroking the wooden handle of it one last time before he shoved it as far into his pack as he could, bladed side first.

With a grim nod he wandered back out of his tent, when something shining caught his eye. He frowned slightly, wandering over to the source, and pushed open the flap of Embarl's own tent slightly, preparing to find an opportunistic thief. Instead he found a single bag, of medium size, lying open, with some gems spilling from the top. Aefer stared for several seconds, then laughed heartily -- whoever had been attempting to steal from them had obviously fled the scene, dropping his ill-gotten gains as he ran. Well, Aefer could sort that out -- he reached out and grabbed the pack before marching briskly towards the inn he'd visited the previous night. He shouted over to his companions as he passed, explaining he had some business to attend to, and they just nodded to him; too busy listening to another of Graham's tales to pay much attention.

Aefer would show them that even guards had brains.

----------

Eventually Embarl excused himself to go to bed, standing up and stretching before their small campfire. Cotirso was yawning, Nara was already asleep, and Graham was offering to carry her to the empty wagon to put her to bed. The thief saw Aefer disappearing into his tent and was thankful to note that everyone was together -- they were due to leave in the morning and he didn't want any hold ups before they set off. Saying goodbye to Alice _again_ wasn't something he wanted to go through.

He wandered to his tent, ducking his head as he crawled into its confines -- then froze. The bag was gone. He mentally cursed -- of course, he'd made no real effort to hide it, thinking that it'd be perfectly secure when he was only a few feet away, but now it had gone. None of the others knew he'd even acquired it for them, so it was no good mentioning it to them. Now they were left back at square one -- virtually penniless, despite the goodness they'd done.

Embarl wondered if it was time to get a bit more selfish in his actions, then realised that the combination of Graham and Cotirso would quickly quench any attempt he made. He slumped to the bed, allowing himself to fall down to the blankets heavily. _Why me?_ he thought, closing his eyes and hoping to drift off, so he could waken up in the morning to discover it was all a dream -- that the bag would be safely nestled under his arm, where it should be.

----------

Nara finished her packing as the others waited for her, then nodded her readiness to leave. Aefer was looking very happy about something -- she was sure his pack was never usually as full as it seemed to be now, but perhaps that was due to his pike. He wouldn't go into details about what had happened with regards to his weapon choice, but merely insisted that when they descended from the upper part of the town and approached the docks and the market, that he'd wish to purchase a sturdy staff to serve his purposes.

Embarl was glaring around him -- he'd been in such good spirits yesterday that the only thing Nara could put his sudden change of mood down to was a hangover. He snapped at Cotirso when he caught the cleric gazing moonily over to one of the temples -- the priest had spent much of the previous day sitting beside a fairly pretty young Helmite, seemingly enraptured by her conversation, and oblivious to everything else. When Graham had voiced, loudly, how happy the group would be to donate the stolen goods they also carried for the sake of the children, the cleric had managed to drag his eyes away from her form long enough to agree, causing the object of his attention's eyes to widen in admiration. He'd looked very pleased with himself after that.

Graham was, as usual, ensuring everyone else was ready to go. He'd single-handedly packed up all the tents and group possessions, readied the mounts and ensured that the wagons were taken away by the guards before they left. Embarl had watched that event with scowl, and Nara could only imagine how bad the noise of the clattering wood and neighing horses was affecting his headache.

Eventually they were on the move, slowly making their way down to the merchants and traders beside the river while the thief counted out what money they had left from Iztah's wages. Graham had managed to add his own coin to the pot, meaning together they had a healthy amount to go towards the basic essentials they'd need -- which included another two horses so they'd have a mount each.

In the end, Embarl sulkily handed their money to the ranger, ignoring him as he went off to purchase their equipment with Nara and Aefer in tow. Instead, Embarl sat down by Cotirso on a low brick wall that faced out to the river and tried to ignore the priest as he sighed with amazing frequency. Eventually it became too much.

"What's wrong?" he snapped.

Cotirso slowly turned around to look at him, then sniffed slightly. "You wouldn't understand," he replied haughtily. "It's matters of the heart."

Embarl rolled his eyes. "Oh, for the love of Mask," he muttered, causing the cleric to scowl in return. Another silence fell over them.

"Where are we going now, then?"

Cotirso's question came from nowhere and Embarl's face lost the glare it had so lovingly cultivated over the previous few hours. Instead he blinked a few times, then shrugged. "If we'd managed to raise a little bit of coin from the whole farce we've just been through, I'd have said we could have got ourselves some proper adventurers garb and tried that tower we passed."

"Durlag's Tower?" Cotirso hmm'd. "I overheard a bit about it when the driver was talking to you about it. Seems fairly dangerous, though I am sure Lathander would protect me as well as He could for one of His faithful."

"And you in turn would protect the rest of us, right?"

"Eh, theoretically," replied the priest carefully.

Embarl snorted. "Well anyway, we won't be going there. I don't know where we are, I don't know where we can go or what we can do -- in fact the only person who _does_ know where we are is the sodding ranger, who will, as usual, usurp my leadership and take over and decide what we're doing and when, just like he did with the wagons yesterday."

"I agreed with him on that..."

"You would, you're a cleric! And you wanted to impress that little Helmite who was making eyes at you." Embarl didn't notice Cotirso flushing.

"Since when have you been our leader, anyway?" asked the cleric. "You hardly ever make real decisions, and it's not like you really planned any of this. A proper leader would _lead_ us, not just let us fall into things as they happened."

"Well maybe you should try leading- Wait, no, scratch that," remarked Embarl, hastily taking back his words and sighing. "Look, it's not easy to lead, you know? Especially when you haven't exactly _chosen_ your current companions."

Cotirso nodded sagely, and reached out to pat the thief's arm in what Embarl assumed was meant to be a comforting manner. "I understand," he said soothingly. "But Graham seems to be firmly in our group now, and you just have to adapt to that."

"I meant all of-"

"As for what to do next," continued Cotirso, ignoring him, "well, I'm sure _something_ will come up. Perhaps we just need to visit a few of the more colourful establishments and see what jobs there are on offer, or deeds waiting to be performed." A dreamy look came over his face, and Embarl hastily moved away.

"Well, maybe you're right," the thief relented, sighing again. "But I know one thing for sure -- I want to go back to Amn."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: ** A belated thank you to Inconspicuous Acuity for his help with Elturel! Should have mentioned it last chapter, but better late than never:D

"I thought you wanted to go and look at that tower," remarked Cotirso conversationally. The group were leading their horses out of Elturel's gates, though none of them actually knew where they were heading to next. Embarl just scowled around darkly.

"I did," he mumbled almost inaudibly. "But my cunning plan seems to have been foiled."

No one showed any sign of having heard him; instead they paused at the side of a grassy meadow within a stone's throw of the city walls. All eyes turned to Graham -- even Embarl's, though he quickly chided himself and looked away, becoming deeply engrossed by a pattern in the mud underfoot.

"Where now?" asked Nara. She sounded quite happy, the thief noticed -- she was smiling to the ranger, her head tilted to one side as she did so. Embarl felt bad -- he should maybe have made sure that the sleeping arrangements for her were slightly better. She _was_ the only girl in the group, after all, and to think she'd got a crick in her neck at night just showed how fragile she likely was. He'd have to try and look after her better, being their leader and all.

Except, right now, Graham was doing a magnificent job at pretending to be in charge.

"As I see it we have a few choices," remarked the beastmaster genially as the others listened intently. Embarl quietly thought hateful thoughts about each of them, quickly forgetting his concern over Nara's welfare. "To the southwest is the Wood of Sharp Teeth -- we'd have to cross the river to get there, though."

"What's in there?" asked Aefer. He was leaning on his staff, obviously trying to look butch. Embarl didn't think you could pull off the macho look with a weapon like that, though the former guard was very impressed with it. He'd got it cheap, as well -- Nara had identified an enchantment on it, and Aefer had somehow managed to barter down the tradesman to half the original asking price -- which in the thief's opinion, was already very low. He wasn't sure he trusted it, but super, wonderful Graham had thought it was a good buy, so who was _he _to disagree.

"Apart from our friend, here's, tower?" grinned Graham. Embarl thought he looked smug. He wanted to punch him. "There's rumoured to be the ruins of a city, once inhabited by werewolves. Many say the creatures still live in the forest, despite their old home having been destroyed."

Cotirso had straightened himself considerably. "Werewolves, eh?" he asked, staring southwards, obviously in the direction he assumed the forest to be in. Embarl wasn't quite as directionally challenged, and he knew the cleric should be looking a little more to his right. "That sounds like an evil worth smiting!"

Graham continued his smile and looked to the former Shadow Thief. Embarl resisted the urge to snarl and managed a curt reply of his own. "Any treasure there?"

"I'd imagine not," admitted Graham, almost apologetically. Embarl wondered if he could carry off a headbutt as well as Thomas the Thug had been able to, back at the guild. "So, that leaves us with west, to Baldur's Gate, south-ish back to Berdusk, or north through the Fields of the dead to Soubar. I'm guessing that east to Scornubel is still a no." Another flash of a brilliantly white smile. Embarl was quite sure his teeth hadn't been that dazzling before -- had he received some blessing from the Helmites for dental care?

"We should go and deal with Iztah," growled Aefer dangerously. Embarl was so preoccupied with glaring at Graham that he ended up patting the fighter's shoulder, causing him to receive a curious glance.

"Let's go to Baldur's Gate," said Nara suddenly. "I've heard so much about it... and we can get almost _anywhere_ from there!"

Cotirso nodded his agreement. "Certainly, it would be a fine place to continue my spreading of the word," he mused, throwing a glance back at Elturel. "Better than _some_ places, anyway."

"The Flaming Fist still have a number of men in Baldur's Gate," said Aefer with a shrug. "At least there I'll not be short on drinking companions." Nara rolled her eyes.

"Well, Embarl?" Graham beamed to the thief. Embarl grit his teeth.

"Sure, why not?" he muttered, jumping onto his horse and trotting off along the road. He only paused when Graham called out to him.

"Uh... we need to go _this_ way..."

----------

They rode for several hours, the sun high in the sky making it a pleasant day. Embarl trailed behind the others, watching as Cotirso and Aefer discussed the medicinal uses of ales and beers while Graham gave Nara a highly informative -- but boring to the thief's ears -- lecture on the local plant life. Both groups were so dedicated to their discussions that Embarl almost felt himself missing Alice. Almost.

The road was fairly busy -- Hellriders would appear now and then, conversing amiably with Graham about the dangers on the road, and a few trading caravans would wind their way past. The thief could hardly stop himself from trying to peer into the wagons, determined to see if there were any other children having been ruthlessly torn from their families just so someone could make a profit. Graham noticed his actions and gently pointed out that any activities would be frowned upon in Elturel, and since they were technically within the boundaries of the city's lands, anyone seeking to smuggle slaves around would be wiser to give the area a wide berth.

Embarl really wanted to stick his knife into the sanctimonious busy-body's throat.

They camped by the banks of the River Chionthar, where the ranger estimated it'd take them about another two to three days to reach the city of Baldur's Gate -- slightly less if they left the road in the next leg and stuck closer to the river. Embarl shrugged indifferently when asked for his opinion -- he wasn't sure why anyone bothered consulting him any more, considering that the ranger was making every important decision for them, so he sulkily busied himself with erecting the tents, only to have Graham appear beside him, automatically taking over. Embarl took a deep breath.

"Are you alright?" asked Graham, seemingly genuinely concerned. Embarl looked up to him, ready to tell him exactly what he was thinking when his eyes caught sight of Nara. The young wizardess was tending the newly lit fire, carefully watching the scene with a worried face. Something about her slightly fearful expression hit Embarl heavily, and he closed his eyes, sighing deeply.

"I'm fine," he lied, opening his eyes and offering a very forced smile. "Just tired, you know. Will be good to get to a city again."

Graham nodded knowingly, expertly finishing off the pitching of one of the tents. "Well, if you decide to leave the paths tomorrow I can see what we can do to speed up the trip," he offered, frowning slightly as he went over the options. "But you might want us to stay on, or near to, the road for safety."

"We likely to run into trouble if we come off the road?"

The ranger shrugged. "Hard to tell -- I wouldn't imagine there'd be much to test us, but it's likely we'll meet the odd bandit or ogre, maybe a gnoll or two."

"We can deal with that though, can't we?"

"Don't see why not."

Embarl nodded. "Then we'll take the shortest route possible," he smiled -- genuinely this time. Graham nodded his acquiescence and wandered off, grabbing his bow as he passed on the way to collect their meal. Embarl returned to the others sitting around the fire -- Cotirso and Aefer had tended to the horses, and were now warming their hands on the heat, staving off the slight chill in the evening air.

"I'm glad Graham has come with us," ventured Nara, almost hesitantly. Her eyes flickered over Embarl as she spoke, but never rested overly long on his form. "He's very good at... things."

Aefer nodded his agreement. "He knows how to find good meat."

"And he always finds the way to wherever he needs to go," remarked Cotirso.

"He does, doesn't he," replied Nara dreamily, her eyes settled on he fire, and a small, coy smile playing at her lips. Embarl stared at her.

"Yes, well," said the thief quickly, "he's welcome to travel with us until we get to the Gate, then we'll see what happens."

"You're going to ask him to leave?" Nara was making big, doe eyes at him. He tried to ignore it, but it made him uncomfortable. He shifted slightly.

"Not as such, no, but he might decide he has other things to do," he explained hastily.

"Oh." The mage looked crestfallen. Embarl wondered why he was constantly being put into no-win situations. Thankfully for him, they were soon interrupted in their relaxation by the snapping of several twigs, and the low crash of something heavy travelling towards them.

"Ogre!" yelled Cotirso, leaping to his feat, pulling his flail free from his belt -- then retreating as fast as he possibly could, muttering the words of a prayer rapidly. A shimmering glow enveloped him as his call for sanctuary was answered. "I can heal you without fear, if you get hurt!" he called out helpfully.

Nara had also scrambled out of the way; the innocent, sad looking young girl was instantly replaced by the more familiar shouting, vicious woman as she shrieked at Embarl about earning a decent amount of coin so she could get proper spell components. As if to demonstrate her point, she shot some magic missiles towards the ogre. They tore into its flesh, causing it to stumble and look confused for a second, before it went lumbering on towards Aefer.

The former guard was brandishing his new staff eagerly, waiting for the creature to get close. Embarl took advantage of the situation, slipping away from the fire and into the shadows of the nearby trees until he was behind their attacker. Silently he leaned down and pulled his dagger free from his boot, then crept up behind the monster as it grunted in Aefer's direction. It swung its club towards the guardsman, who easily avoided it, using his staff to counter the attack and thump the beast on the head. It howled in annoyance, which rapidly became a horrific scream as Embarl's knife plunged between its shoulder blades, easily passing through its dirty tunic.

With amazing dexterity the ogre turned, swatting at the thief with its spare hand, and catching him firmly on the side of the head. Embarl fell to the side, going over his ankle as he tumbled to the ground. "Cleric!" he screamed, feeling a burning pain throb in the lower half of his leg. Cotirso began to make his way cautiously over.

Satisfied with the move, the ogre turned back to snarl at Aefer, who had begun to repeatedly beat at it with his staff. Blows were dodged by either party as the creature and the guard danced around ungracefully, each parrying and eluding hits. Then Aefer's weapon caught the creature squarely on the jaw, causing a crunching noise. The ogre fell back, dazed slightly, and a strange glow enveloped the area.

A flash of light poured from the staff and took the form of a young humanoid female in the blink of an eye. Aefer paused in his attacks, Cotirso forgot to finish his healing prayer, and Embarl failed to notice because his eyes were firmly fixed to the long haired, slender, tall... and very, very scantily clad girl, that had appeared... from Aefer's stave.

"Eh, hello," nodded the guard amiably, absent-mindedly thumping his staff down on the ogre's head and rendering it unconscious. The girl screamed at the blow.

"DO YOU MIND?! EVERY TIME YOU DO THAT IT HURTS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE STUCK IN THAT BLASTED PIECE OF WOOD?"

"Uh." Aefer looked over to Nara quickly. The wizard was regarding the newcomer with mystified wide-eyes.

"Well?" The girl crossed her arms together, covering a fair bit of her exposed chest. Embarl and Cotirso both sighed in unison and she shot them a poisonous look.

"I'm... sorry?" offered Aefer helplessly, staring at the staff in his hands. "Did you... come... from this?"

"Yes, I did!" she snorted, staring icily at him. "Ever since that blasted woodsman cut down my tree and made a staff from the wood, I've been bound to that wea-"

A small boom and another flash of light and she was gone. The group remained still for several moments, the silence of the night hanging around them. Aefer frowned slightly, then addressed his staff.

"Can you still hear me?"

Some crickets were chirping somewhere, and an owl hooted mysteriously in the background. Embarl wondered why owls always hooted when things were quiet at night, and people were listening carefully for something _else_.

"I don't think she can," remarked Nara, approaching the fighter and touching the staff. He snatched it away from her defensively despite her glare.

"Is this the enchantment you spoke about?" he asked curtly. "Because if so, it's not a very _nice_ one."

"Oh, I don't know," murmured Cotirso quietly. Embarl found himself nodding in agreement.

"Well, she was quite pleasant to look at," admitted Aefer, his eyes turning hazy. Nara began to tap her foot.

"If she was about to say she's trapped in that staff, then I think we should find a way to free her," she said matter-of-factly. The three men gaped at her.

"Now, let's not be hasty," began Cotirso.

"You don't know she doesn't actually like it in there," said Embarl.

"It's my staff, and she's better off in there where I can protect her!" announced Aefer, stamping his foot slightly. Nara continued to glower at him, and their staring match was only interrupted by Graham's polite cough. They turned to see him standing with a brace of pheasants, looking down at the stirring ogre with curiosity.

"Aha!" exclaimed Aefer, leaping past Nara to get to the ogre, and walloping it repeatedly with his weapon. When it was fully bludgeoned, he looked at his staff with some disappointment. "Blast."

Graham looked quizzically at Embarl, and the thief was jostled back to reality. The pain in his leg came charging back at him, and he reached out to grab Cotirso, shrieking loudly. "Heal my flippin' ankle!"

The cleric jumped, startled by the aggressive move, and cursed the end of his spell of sanctuary. He cleared his throat and began mumbling the words to his healing prayers again while Nara explained what had happened to the bemused ranger.

"We were sitting talking, and then this ogre came charging at us, so Embarl managed to get round behind it to backstab it, and Aefer hit it with his staff, and it flashed, and this woman appeared, and they all _stared_ at her because she didn't have much on in the way of clothes, and she screamed something about her tree being cut down and being bound, and then she disappeared again, and Aefer won't let me look at it, and then you came back."

Graham nodded slowly, trying to take in all the words she'd expelled without taking a breath. He regarded the rather mutilated corpse of the ogre somewhat critically for a while then carefully put his hunted game down beside the campfire.

"A woman, eh? Be interesting to see her." He nodded to the body. "Best be moving that," he said simply, moving over to it and lugging it away from their camp. Aefer gave him a hand, and they returned as Embarl was helped to his feet, somewhat shakily, by Cotirso. They all turned around to see Nara glaring at them as a group. They exchanged nervous glances.

"What?" asked Embarl eventually.

Nara snorted with annoyance. "Men!" she growled, turning away from them and storming off into the nearest tent, closing its flap behind her.

The men exchanged another confused look and then shrugged.

"I'll be cooking then," remarked Graham.


	11. Chapter 11

Nara didn't utter a single word over the course of the next two days, causing Cotirso to lecture her on the basics of manners when accepting plates of food from one of her companions. She glared icily at him until he withdrew, then tossed her hair and stalked off to sit alone, scowling around at her surroundings darkly. Not even Graham could seem to break her from her mood, and Embarl was too frightened to try.

"Must be that time of the month," he whispered knowingly to the other men. Aefer and Graham nodded solemnly, eyeing the mage warily, while Cotirso frowned slightly.

"Full moon?" the cleric asked.

Embarl rolled his eyes. "Close enough," he muttered.

"Same sort of effects," agreed Aefer, chewing on a stem of corn. "Sudden emergence of a beast when there was a perfectly normal human being there before, insane tempers, howling and screaming. Throw in random crying, and you've got it exactly."

Cotirso looked horrified, immediately wandering off and settling down into prayer. Embarl sniggered as the cleric's words drifted over to them.

"_... and please protect us from any lunar tendencies Nara decides to show..."_

"'Perfectly normal'?" queried Embarl thoughtfully as he glanced over to the mage. "I thought you were describing Nara?"

Aefer shrugged slightly. "Point taken."

----------

It also took Aefer almost two days to stop hitting things randomly with his staff. He'd tap the ground with it, occasionally hit a tree or bush, and more often than not, whack Cotirso as he was deep in prayer. But nothing would bring back the dryad bound to his weapon, and no amount of talking to the staff helped matters. Due to Nara's silent treatment, he couldn't even persuade the mage to work on the enchantment in order to make the girl appear more often, and he absolutely refused to let Cotirso perform an exorcism.

"She'll come out when she's good and ready," shrugged Embarl, eyeing the weapon warily as it lay atop their packs. After the initial dreaminess had worn off from the effects of her appearance, he'd had the biggest problem with the weapon, especially when Aefer insisted upon taking it to his tent every night. For some reason, the thief couldn't shake the thought out of his head of her escaping from her captivity in the dead of the night, stabbing them all with sharpened twigs as she claimed her revenge for her imprisonment on those nearest to her. He didn't dare share these thoughts with anyone else, not even when they began to feature heavily in his dreams.

_Got to get him a new weapon,_ he decided firmly, sure that there'd be plenty of opportunity to find him something more suitable in Baldur's Gate. Then they could sell on the staff, or even donate it to some magical academy or something, and let them deal with her. She'd not been incredibly happy when she'd appeared that single time, but it had been enough -- enchanting, beautiful, radiant… he shook his head and frowned. Pretty dryad or not, one moody woman was more than enough to have around.

----------

Slowly their horses trotted along in a line, Embarl in the middle, with Graham then Nara to one side, and Aefer then Cotirso to the other. Conversation was at a minimum, their travels having been long and fairly hard going when they left the road. Ogres, gnolls and kobolds had all appeared frequently, and the terrain underfoot had gone between rocky and marshy within a few metres on more than one occasion. The mounts were tired, the riders weary; but as they came over the crest of the hill a welcome sight loomed before them, and they stopped together, gazing down at the city before them.

Baldur's Gate stretched out, nestled within its tall walls, a single bridge crossing over to it from the land, no more than a five minute ride from them. Spires and towers and roofs made a complex pattern across the area, and the companions exchanged excited glances -- even Nara managed a smile. Then they spurred their horses on, managing a canter to the road, then dismounting to lead their steeds over the bridge leisurely as Graham explained what he knew about the city.

"We can stable the horses near the gates," he said thoughtfully. "Might cost a little bit, but I'm sure we'll have enough, and it'll be much easier than taking them into the city."

"Sounds good to me," said Aefer as he strode along, gazing over the parapets of the bridge at the sparkling waters of the river underneath. "I'm betting there are one or two good inns to be had as well?"

Graham grinned. "There's probably an inn to cater to your every taste," he said, running through some of the more seedy haunts: The Elfsong, The Low Lantern, and The Blushing Mermaid. "And then there's the more upper market taverns-" he continued, but Aefer interrupted him.

"No, no -- what you've already described sounds just _fine_," the guardsman said reassuringly. Nara rolled her eyes.

"Is there anywhere for me to get proper spell components?" she asked. The men ground to a sudden halt, their dumbfounded expressions falling onto the young mage as she glared back to them.

"Eh," answered Graham, picking up his stride again and trying to look unflustered by her sudden decision to actually speak to them. "There's a store called Sorcerous Sundries that might be right up your street."

Nara nodded smugly. "That'll do perfectly."

"What about a weapons store?" asked Embarl quietly, throwing a worried look over at Aefer. Graham frowned as he thought.

"There's a few, depending on what you want," he replied, just as quietly. "There used to be a man, down by the docks, who had a fair selection, could get his hands on just about anything you wanted. Might be worth trying him."

Embarl nodded his agreement.

"Is there a Temple to Lathander?" asked Cotirso, before he snorted. "What am I asking! Of _course _there will be... it's a civilised city, after all."

"Sort of," said Graham hazily.

Cotirso's eyebrow shot up.

"There's a shrine, the Rose Portal I believe it's called," the ranger continued quickly, "which is said to be a wonderf-"

"No temple?" Cotirso's voice was tight.

"Not as such, no," affirmed Graham.

The cleric nodded slowly, his hands squeezing his horse's reins. "So. What temples _are_ there?"

Graham sighed. "Well, there are shrines to Helm, Oghma and Ilmater too-"

"I said temples!" Cotirso was just about shrieking.

"Well." Graham cleared his throat. "There's the Hall of Wonders, which is dedicated to Gond I believe, and the Lady's Hall, for followers of Tymora and... well... er..."

Cotirso kept glaring over to him. Graham looked genuinely nervous for the first time.

"By the docks, there's... the Water Queen's House."

The priest's mouth dropped open slowly, a look of abject horror crossing his features. The others drifted away from him, almost subconsciously, avoiding eye contact, and becoming quickly enraptured by their surroundings; studying the brickwork of the bridge, or examining the running water as closely as they could from such a height. Before long, the explosion came.

"UMBERLEE?! The... the HEATHENS have a temple for UMBERLEE, the Bitch Queen of the Sea, but all they deign to offer the Morning Lord is... is... A SHRINE?!"

Nara looked down nervously at the swirling rapids and cleared her throat. "Perhaps your little... tirade... could wait until we're safely across?" she suggested.

"Why?" Cotirso scoffed. "Frightened the _Queen _of the Depths will spray you with some of her oh so precious water?"

"Something like that," the mage muttered darkly, ignoring Cotirso's eye rolling.

"I can't believe it," he said, almost as if to himself. "A city with such a reputation -- filled with so many people who are failing to benefit from the true enlightenment! And what do they have instead?" He snorted. "A _temple_ for _Umberlee_ -- the murderous, evil-"

"Cotirso..." warned Nara, her eyes watching the swelling waves as she picked up her pace.

"-psychotic-"

"I think you should stop now," called Embarl, beginning to jog towards the distant gate.

"-manipulative-"

"You really don't know when to put a stopper in it, do you?" shouted Aefer, breaking into a full run.

"-bitch!" concluded Cotirso triumphantly. It took him a few minutes to register the now frantic rushing of all his companions, save for Graham. The ranger was standing close to Cotirso, grabbing the cleric's arm when he finished and hurrying him along. "What's happening?" Cotirso asked blankly. The ranger pointed to the side.

The once peaceful flowing river was now washing down the riverbed in waves -- waves that were steadily increasing in height and ferocity and almost tall enough to break over the parapets. Cotirso paused in his stride, gaping at the sight. His horse, however, was unwilling to linger on the crossing and it bolted from his grasp, spooking Graham's in turn, and the pair of them watched as their steeds galloped through the flimsy wooden barrier that lay beside the gates. The gates that their other companions had almost reached.

"Run!" shouted Graham, breaking into a sprint.

Cotirso didn't need to be told twice -- he ran as fast as he could, surprising himself as he overtook the athletic ranger and dashed towards the gates. Water sloshed over the walls threateningly, the next wave looming behind it; much larger, and approaching much faster. Cotirso prayed as he ran, mumbling between breaths to Lathander, asking Him to protect His faithful. The gates got closer, but the wave was moving quickly now, reaching the edge of the bridge as Cotirso threw himself towards his companions, feeling Aefer's grip on his hand as the guardsman dragged him through the narrow archway that led back onto dry ground at the side of the city.

The cleric panted heavily, lying still for a few moments before he picked himself up. He looked down, dusting the dirt from his robes as he chuckled softly, still trying to catch his breath. "Well, seems like she didn't appreciate me speaking the truth like that, huh?" he asked, turning around to the others. Three of them were standing behind him, staring out at the bridge in silence. Cotirso looked past their figures, seeing the wet cobbles and parapets, freshly soaked from the wave. Then it began to sink in.

"Graham-"

"He was behind you," replied Nara, interrupting him, bitterness in her voice. "He was so busy trying to hurry you along that he stayed behind too long. We couldn't reach him."

An uncomfortable silence fell on them, only being interrupted by the arrival of some guards, who wanted to know what had happened, and why the toll barrier had been broken down. None of them answered -- Aefer and Embarl cautiously went out to the bridge, peering down to the now subdued river in the vain hope they'd see something -- anything.

Nara began to cry when Embarl looked back at them sadly, shaking his head.


	12. Chapter 12

Nara wouldn't even answer their calls, let alone come out of her room, and Embarl was beginning to get worried. The innkeeper objected when he asked Aefer to kick the door in, and not even Cotirso's offer of a free sermon for his patrons would persuade him otherwise. So, instead, they waited until he'd gone and the thief picked the lock quickly, darting into the room to check on the girl's state.

She wasn't there -- her window was wide open, her possessions as gone as she was. Embarl swore loudly, spinning around as he pushed past the other two men who were trying to look past him, to see what was happening. This was _not_ how he'd expected to spend his time in the city!

They'd stumbled into the Elfsong shortly after the incident on the bridge, shaken and distressed, Nara in tears. Cotirso had been so shocked by the whole situation that he'd been unable to stop himself from compulsively apologising, and in the end Aefer had been required to knock him out with his staff. This had produced the rather unfortunate appearance of the imprisoned nymph, who had caused the normally rowdy tavern to fall into a _complete_ silence as she launched herself at the former guardsman, leaping onto his back and clawing at him viciously, before disappearing in another blinding flash of light.

Many of the nearest customers had started applauding at that point, asking where the rest of their troupe was. Embarl had merely groaned, instructing Aefer to stop signing autographs and get Cotirso to his room while he escorted Nara to hers. She'd repaid him by slamming the door in his face and locking it behind her. That had been two days ago. She could have gone anywhere, and the worst thing was... he felt _responsible_ for her.

"Where are we going?" Aefer asked, jogging along as he tried to keep up with Embarl, the thief briskly walking along the busy road outside the tavern.

"I have no idea."

"Right-oh."

"Perhaps we should try that magical shop Graham mentioned," suggested Cotirso timidly. He still hadn't forgotten the long list of names Embarl had called him, nor had he forgiven Aefer for the lump that was still on the crown of his head. "Sorcerous Sundries, wasn't it?"

"As good a place as any, I guess," nodded Embarl, staring suspiciously at the building before them. "Think that might be it?"

The other two men moved to each side of him, looking at the same structure. Slowly they both began to nod.

"Must be," remarked Aefer. "Impractical rounded walls, stone that has no resistance to the weather, and... _who_ has a blue and orange dome for their roof?"

"The council building back home?" ventured Embarl.

"Nah," said Aefer solemnly. "It's gold and silver. Much more refined."

----------

Sorcerous Sundries was a vast shop, filled to the brim with the things that made a mage's life easier. And books. Cotirso had wandered off to browse the wares, though the thief wasn't sure what the priest expected to find that'd be any use. But he couldn't say he was overly bothered; although Embarl hadn't been Graham's biggest fan, and wasn't entirely sad to be apart from him, the loss had affected Nara, which had caused her to run away. This, in turn, had made Embarl feel horribly responsible and like he ought to be finding her. And so, instead of enjoying the lights of the city, he was trying to find a girl. And not in the way he'd wanted to.

The owner of the store peered suspiciously at them over the top of his horn-rimmed glasses as they described their missing companion. He asked all sorts of seemingly pointless questions, from Nara's shoe size, to what her favourite fruit was on the second-day of each week as he thoughtfully tapped his quill against the large ledger on the counter. Despite Embarl's attempts to answer the random enquires, the man ended up shrugging.

"I have seen no one like that," he announced, turning away from them and shuffling off to attend another customer. The rogue glared at his back, almost wishing that, for once, looks could kill. It'd save him having to bloody his dagger, that was for sure.

"Let's try somewhere else," said Aefer. Embarl nodded, forcing his attention away from the wizened owner as he turned, and all but ran into a tall willowy figure, sending her careering into Aefer who appeared to be all too happy to help her stay on her feet.

"Get your hands off me, you big oaf!" the girl snapped, smacking the fighter's hands away from her sides. Her reaction didn't surprise either of them in the slightest -- it seemed to be an in-built response women had to Aefer's roving hands. Slowly, she turned back to Embarl, a scowl on her pale face. Red hair framed her glare, wildly growing in all directions, it seemed, and clashing rather horribly with her lime green and brown tunic. For a few seconds he could see nothing but the thousands of freckles absolutely _covering_ her face... and then he realised she'd been talking to him.

"Ah, hello," he offered, quite charmingly. "I didn't see you there."

Aefer snorted. Embarl had spent enough time in the guardsman's company to know it was a disbelieving snort, and he had to admit that the taller man had a point; _how_ he'd not managed to catch a glimpse of the... colourfully decked girl could only be explained by his haste to get out of the shop. Nevertheless, she was not happy, and she was standing between him and the door. He silently cursed the internal layout.

"Do you even _know_ who I am?" she demanded, looking further agitated as he shook his head. "You don't? Where have you been? Amn?! Do you know nothing of current affairs?!"

"Ah, actually-"

"I am Rinnie -- I mean, that is, you can call me Lady Rinala SoftWord, best-selling authoress of 'Can you hear the Hooves?'!"

The men exchanged a blank look. The woman tutted loudly.

"It's a ballad based on the tale of the Unicorn Run in the High Forest -- surely you've heard of that?"

"Oh, _that_?" Embarl bluffed. "Ah, yes... er, wonderful story."

"Isn't it? When I learnt the legend, I was smitten... I knew it was my destiny to work with it -- to put into words the _passion _behind it all..." She paused and cleared her throat, losing her slightly faraway expression and resuming her glower. "And _you_ just bumped into me, and would have run off without even an apology!"

"That's not really accurate," replied Embarl indignantly. "If you'd be quiet-"

"Well, if that's the case," she continued, her hand going up to her hair, coyly twisting it around her fingers, "perhaps you'd like to invite me to dinner this evening? The Three Old Kegs do a wonderful roast and it's been _such_ a long time since I last got to speak to a fellow appreciator of the arts!"

"Well, normally I'd love to, but-"

"Excellent!" she squealed, effectively cutting him off as she clapped her hands together in glee. "I shall meet you at dusk at the door!" She turned and scuttled away before pausing at the door, suddenly looking at him with serious intent. "If you fail to turn up, I _will_ find you."

Embarl stood there, speechless, after she'd gone, while Aefer's deep laugh got progressively louder. The guardsman eventually reached his side, slapping him across the back with more force than was necessary. "Well, look at you," he chuckled. "First day you leave the inn, and a date already."

"It's not a laughing matter," muttered Embarl, shoving past his friend in his determination to get Cotirso and get out of the shop before anything else could go wrong. "And anyway, I can't go."

"Why's that?" asked Aefer, looking genuinely puzzled.

Embarl gave him a curious look as he wandered over to the priest, idly reaching out and dragging him away from the collection of eyeballs that had started to float around him. "Have you forgotten that we've recently lost a friend?"

"Of course not!" Aefer sniffed slightly. "But I'm sure we'll find her; the city's not that big-"

"No, Aefer!" exclaimed the thief, wondering more and more about what he'd gotten himself into and why he was with these people. He managed to manoeuvre Cotirso to the door, beating off the eyes as they tried to follow them outside. Aefer slammed the door closed behind him and there were several faint thudding noises. "I mean, _lost_! You know -- as in, is dead?"

The guard frowned slightly. "You're talking about Graham, aren't you?"

Life as a Shadow Thief had provided Embarl with plenty of practice to develop his patience. It was thanks to this that he was able to bend over slightly, hands on his hips, staring down at his boots while taking deep breaths. "Yes, Aefer. I'm talking about Graham."

"It's rude to talk about people when you don't think they're near you," came a voice. Embarl immediately tensed, looking up and preparing to throw himself at the owner.

"Nara! Where the he-" The mage deftly side-stepped his dive, watching in amusement as he flew past, a look of mystified horror on his face as regarded her companion. A loud splash heralded the thief's landing in the only puddle the length of the street, his loudly uttered expletives failing to drown out Cotirso's voice.

"Graham! You're all right! We were _so_ worried about you, had no idea what might have happened -- wasn't it terribly strange timing for such a freakish natural occurrence? -- but we were sure you'd find your way back to us, and looking as well as ever, I hasten to add!"

"Cotirso, let go of his hand, you're hurting him!" came Nara's indignant voice as Embarl tried to sulkily wipe the wet mud from his breeches. He quite liked these trousers. "Can't you see what _you_ did to him?"

The cleric huffed. "I did no such thing," he protested. "No one could have predicted that there would have been a flood up-river that was due to hit the town-"

"And who told you that?" asked Nara disbelievingly.

"This little girl, Tenya I think her name was." Cotirso's brow wrinkled in thought.

Aefer also frowned. "That's not right," he said, scratching his head. "The little girl, blue robes?" The priest nodded. "I remember her -- came up to us before we went into the tavern. She actually said, 'I hope you've learnt your lesson -- never cross the name of my Goddess, the Bitch Queen Umberlee, again'."

"Ah, ahem, yes, well." Cotirso shifted slightly. "We're all back together again! Isn't it lovely?!"

A deafening silence fell around them and Embarl looked at Graham closer. Apart from a massively swollen face, one arm in a sling, the other arm resting on a crutch, and a deathly pale pallor, he looked the same as normal. A wave of relief suddenly swept over the rogue, and he threw his arms around the ranger, hugging him tightly and barely hearing the whimpers of pain from the man or the cries from Nara. "It's so good to see you!" he declared genuinely, pulling away and holding onto Graham's shoulders firmly. "It's so good to see you. _Both!"_ This time Nara didn't manage to avoid his tackle, and he squeezed her in his arms, thanking Mask for being such a great god.

When he eventually moved away, tears shining from his eyes, he was met with a suspicious look from the mage. "Why are you so happy to see us?"

He grinned stupidly at her. "Because it means you're safe!" he declared. "It means, like Roger said, we're all back together again!"

"My name is _not_-"

"And it means he can go on his date tonight," added Aefer, winking slyly at Graham. The ranger seemed to start choking and Nara rolled her eyes.

"That too," Embarl added hastily, moving himself between the girl and the injured man and linking his arms into theirs as he began dragging them back towards the Elfsong. "I would, of course, prefer to stay with you both and hear about your adventures, but you probably need rest, and plenty of it! Let's get you to your rooms and we'll meet up tomorrow morning, catch up then, yes?" He frowned slightly, not pausing in his stride, ignoring Nara's complaints. "Actually, let's make that tomorrow afternoon!"

----------

"I can't believe he's gone off like that," said Nara indignantly. She was sitting close to the back wall, at the corner table. She'd barely touched her goblet of wine, purchased for her by Cotirso. The priest was trying to help Graham drink his own, ensuring a constant gargled and choking noise hung in the air. Until that point, the injured beastmaster had been subjected to several hours' worth of praying over his wounds which had seemed to have no effect at all.

Aefer didn't immediately reply. Instead he studied his ale for a few moments, then nodded, seemingly to himself. "You're right. He should be here, with us. It's been a traumatic few days and he didn't even stick around long enough to hear what happened, or how you found Graham."

Nara gaped at him for almost a full minute before she composed herself. "Uh... I mean, exactly. Are... are you feeling all right, Aefer?"

"I'm feeling great," he beamed.

She nodded slowly, then let her eyes drift back down to the wine in front of her. Her annoyance with Embarl quickly resurfaced. "It's just that, he says he's our leader, but he's certainly not _acting_ like it! Has he no compassion in him? Ha! That's a stupid question, isn't it, bearing in mind what he _used_ to be! I don't even know why I bother. Or why I stay here with you all!"

"Because you're as alone as we are."

She looked back up; suddenly she noticed Aefer properly, for possibly the first time since they'd started travelling together. No longer was he the muscle-bound idiot she'd quickly labelled him as, only good for his strength, best ignored otherwise. Now he was sitting across from her, his face sombre as he sadly stared off somewhere into the distance. She hesitated, then gently reached out and touched his hand lightly. His eyes snapped back to her and the old, familiar smile returned.

"And you can't leave us," he grinned. "What woman could possibly resist Aefer Murdo?"

She snorted, snatching her hand back from him as he chortled. Her attention was turned to Cotirso, who was carefully daubing Graham's mouth with a handkerchief. She raised an eyebrow.

"You okay there?"

The ranger nodded stiffly, but his eyes were full of fear when the priest announced his intention to get more drinks in and to extend his helpfulness to Graham a bit longer. Nara shook her head and stood from the table.

"We've had enough, thanks. No, it's fine -- I'll see him to bed."

The beastmaster looked at her thankfully as she reached over to help him to his feet, allowing him to lean on her as she pretended to accidentally elbow Cotirso away from him. Before she could lead the way up to their rooms, though, a hand was on her arm, and Aefer was looking up at her questioningly.

"How _did_ you find him?" he asked.

She smiled slightly. "Wizard's Eye."

"You didn't have any-"

"I went straight to the strange shop at the end of the road," she interrupted. "Old man Halbazzer was able to give me what I needed. The rest was just trial and error until I found the location."

Aefer frowned slightly. "He said he'd not seen you."

"You must have answered his questions wrongly," she replied, a twinkle in her eye. "And before you ask, I didn't wait for you three to come with me because... well, how long did it take for you all to realise I'd gone?"

The fighter straightened himself slightly. "Well, we knew you were upset-"

"How long, Aefer?"

He scowled. "We'd gone straight to the shop after Embarl got your door open."

"I rest my case," she grinned, wishing the two companions a goodnight before helping carefully Graham up the stairs and into his room. There, she gently helped him to lie down on the bed, checking that he wasn't in too much pain. With a satisfied nod, she smiled and bid him sweet dreams, preparing to blow out his candle and go through to her own room.

"Thhh-nnk yyy."

She paused in mild surprise -- the ranger's swelling had been so bad that he'd not managed more than a grunt to her since she found him, washed up on the shore of a small fishing village just south of the city. There, the settlement's shaman, Abdep, had administered a full day's worth of healing, before his son had helped them back to Baldur's Gate, allowing them to ride in his wagon as he travelled to the markets. Before they left, Abdep had assured her that his injuries would improve, slowly and with time, with care and attention, and a lot of rest. She'd nodded, thanking him and his family for all their help, and spent the journey back to her companions lost in her thoughts.

Long term recovery wasn't something she could see them having the patience for, but it was what Graham needed now. Her path seemed to split before her, and she could see down each way into the immediate distance, but no further. She had a hard choice to make and little time to contemplate it in.

But now, something gave her the push she needed. She took the first step down the path she'd chosen, leaning over to gently kiss the man's forehead, smiling back at him when he tried to smile at her; the pain coming from the effort made it look more like a grimace, however.

Then she went to the door and closed it behind her, returning to her own room. She picked up the parchment she had, found her quill at the bottom of her pack, and returned to the ranger's room. He'd already drifted off into a slumber by the time she sat herself at the desk by the window, having found some ink in the drawer. She stared out at the night sky, idly chewing the feathered end of her pen, before starting to scribble and scratch out the words she decided upon.


	13. Chapter 13

Embarl checked himself out in the rather hazy reflection of curio store's large window. He was sure he looked fine; he'd managed to sweet talk one of the maids at the Elfsong into laundering his clothes free of charge the second he'd realised Graham and Nara were all right, so he knew they were clean. He'd also used his light-fingers, as Mask intended, lifting a pot of some exotic looking substance from his neighbour's room and applying it liberally to his hair. The maid, Adrienne, had called it a 'quiff' and said it was all the style. He arched an eyebrow as he preened it carefully; _oh yes, looking good, Embarl._

He wasn't sure why he was so bothered, though, if he was to be truly honest. The red-head wasn't exactly his usual type, but it had been a _long_ time since he'd... well, _had_ female company. Nara didn't count, being, as she was, like an annoying cross between a nagging mother and an irritating baby sister. Even _Cotirso_ had managed to get a dinner date back in Elturel! It was things like that, that could really dent a man's pride.

And so he sauntered into the tavern, nodding amiably to the rather large looking bouncers standing at the doorway. The Elfsong was a serviceable place for them to stay -- and it was where Nara had left them, so he'd been reluctant to leave it in case she returned there looking for them. Even if he _had_ only noticed her absence two days after she left, and a mere hour before she came back... But anyway, it reminded him of his past. Much like being a Shadow Thief, it involved plenty of backstabbing, underhand dealings, manipulation, threats, extortion, insults and intimidation -- every day occurrences in his former profession. Even the brawling was something he'd had a daily risk of being involved in -- all it'd take was one person noticing what he was up to and calling the guards...

He tried to shake his memories of the past to concentrate on surveying his surroundings. When his focus returned, he had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping -- he was aware, of course, that he'd entered a significantly nicer part of the city when he approached the inn; no longer were doors hanging from the crumbling frames of nasty looking hovels, but large mansions -- almost as grand as those around the outskirts of the Temple District back home... ah, home... -- loomed up above him, several floors worth of valuables ready for the taking. But this... the whole tavern -- it was something else.

Old but sumptuous beast-skin rugs seemed to stretch forever as it crossed the vast common room, easily letting the large oaken tables and chairs rest upon its velvety surface. The wooden walls carried faded paintings of battles and hunts, intermingled with the odd trophy head of some beast. Elaborate brass sconces held softly glowing torches, giving the whole place a cosy feel, while shelves of books took up most of the remaining space. High-set windows, decorated with stained glass of almost every conceivable colour, allowed in the final hints of natural light as the sun slowly set outside, and caused many colourful patterns to be reflected around upon the busy clientele...

Who were all impeccably dressed, in the latest fashions and colours. Ladies carrying exquisite silken gowns seemed to glide through the air as they travelled to tables, the fabrics of their clothing rippling gently against their womanly curves. Their men friends were clad in colourful breeches, puffy sleeved tunics with large ruffles around the collar, and felt hats with large feathers sticking out of the top. Elderly men lounged in the more luxurious seats beside the open fires, where thick tapestries hung on the walls. Books perched on some of their laps as they snoozed gently, their mulled wine in hand; and even _their_ clothing appeared to be the height of Gate fashion.

Suddenly he felt out of place, except for his hairstyle: his clean but weather-worn armour looked pitiful in comparison, and his trousers had once been the epitome of style ... in the Athkatlan docks. A quick glance towards the bar showed that his date had arrived, but she had her back towards him. Quickly, he turned and darted away. He would need to do some quick thinking.

----------

One of the things he'd picked up in the Elfsong was gossip regarding the Thieves Guild of the city. Highly organised, very efficient and generally effective in all that they did; much like the Shadow Thieves had been. But apparently they weren't the Shadow Thieves, and so Embarl concluded he was safe to practice as an independent trader this once without seeking their permission. He remembered hearing that Baldur's Gate had been the favourite spot for his former group's eventual spreading, so to say he was thankful to discover it wasn't actually the case -- yet, anyway -- was an understatement.

Next to the shop of curios was a rather expensive looking tailor. It was, unfortunately, closed for business by the time Embarl arrived, and so he felt justified in realising he had no choice -- not that he'd have willingly considered _buying_ what he wanted, anyway, but not having a choice in the matter helped to ease his conscience. And the fact that the back door creaked open without him even having to pick the lock just made it easier.

It was only he'd entered that the realisation fell across him that he might not be alone -- and as he froze, mid-stride, and turned to look through a doorway to his right, he noticed he had company. Smaller, admittedly, than he'd expected, and wearing a scared and surprised face... which quickly turned into a broad grin. The small creature bounded towards him, an unnaturally happy expression on her filthy little face and her hairy, shoeless feet making almost no noise at all, despite her lack of sneaking. He just gaped.

"Thieving, you be!" she announced with glee. "Popular target, this is! We could work together and share what we find, if that be suiting you?"

"I... I just wanted a new suit," he said weakly. Something about the energetic halfling was wearing him down just by watching her. She continued to bounce before his very eyes, like stew that wouldn't stop bubbling in a hot pot.

"Plenty of suits here, there be!" she exclaimed with a dramatic sweep of her arm. "Alora I be -- and I be willing to help you find what you need, yes sir!"

He continued to stare, forgetting that it was quite impolite of him; and then he realised it. She might be a thief and a halfling, but she was female -- and quite possibly from Baldur's Gate. She would _know_ about style, surely...

"That would be great," he said, immediately loosening off. "You see, I want to get something like the men in the tavern a few doors down are wearing..."

----------

Rinnie's smile was dazzling. It was one of the first things Embarl noticed when he approached her quietly, murmuring a greeting and smiling wryly as she shrieked slightly, jumping as she turned to face him. After the hefty slap across his cheek, she'd squealed with delight, almost smothering him in an embrace involving fake kisses to each of his cheeks. It had been the first, of many, displays of her ever changing moods.

She seemed to approve of his attire, and he quietly thanked Mask for providing a cheaper option than a fully trained tailor. Alora had nodded solemnly when he explained what he was looking for, and showed him a few different styles she recognised from the noblemen who usually visited the Duchal Palace. None of them were really his style, so eventually she'd dragged him over to another rack of clothing, explaining that his hairstyle reminded her of some of the artisans who frequented the Hall of Wonders most harvest seasons. As she spoke, she managed to locate and present a pair of audaciously bright red breeches, what she _said_ was a matching shirt -- sky blue silk with a lemon ruffle and cuffs -- and even a pair of brown shoes to replace his stealthy, padded boots.

As he got changed, she'd gone out of her way to hunt for the right hat. She'd come close with what he'd expected -- a soft beret-like cap, a pleasant violet colour with a green pompon. With Alora's help, he even managed to get it balanced onto his now straw-like hair, rigidly stuck in place and feeling quite hard to touch. She assured him that it could be washed out.

He'd thanked her, offering her a few coins for her help, and bagged up some of the prettier jewellery for her own stash. She'd agreed to take his stuff back to the Elfsong and make sure one of his companions took care of it, waving at him cheerily as she ran off, her bags almost as big as she was.

And so, he'd sauntered back into the inn feeling like a new man. Rinnie's company, though changeable, was pleasant -- Embarl realised that the only real female company he'd had for... a long time, had been Nara and Alice. It was hard for him to try and compare Rinnie to either of them, for different reasons, and so he was quite happy just to think it was pleasant and mindlessly chatter away as they sat themselves down at a secluded corner table.

"I am _so_ glad you came," she almost purred, fluttering her long eyelashes at him. They were red, like her hair -- and her dress, for the evening, was a bright shade of mustard yellow. A cone-like vibrant pink cap was perched on her head, a veil of silver gauze hanging from it down her back. It seemed to be very much the fashion for the ladies of the city this season, though Rinnie was doing it one step further, and one step brighter, it seemed. As one of the serving girls approached and silently handed them some menus, Embarl idly wondered if, together, they'd be able to blind any potential brigands

"I assure you, I could not wait for this moment," he replied truthfully, flashing his trademark charismatic smile. She giggled coyly, raising the menu to obscure his vision of her face. It always worked -- he'd been born to smile that smile, and the effect was always the same. Well... except with Nara. But sometimes he doubted Nara was even female.

And why was he thinking about Nara?

He let his eyes drift over his own menu, suddenly aware of the pitfalls of dating. He would have to be careful with what he ordered; if he ordered the spit-roast pig, and Rinnie was a member of one of these new hippy-druid cults that didn't believe in eating anything but beans, he'd immediately have a black mark against his name. No… he'd have to play the manners game, and let her order first. That way, he could base what he should order off what _she_ ordered.

_You're on the ball tonight, Embarl._

Her menu lowered, she was frowning slightly; _obviously in deep thought about what to order_. He gazed lazily at his own card, wondering about how to start small-talk. In his profession, needing to engage small-talk meant that you'd messed up your task, and he always tried his hardest not to let that happen. A compliment -- maybe he could start with a compliment.

He cleared his throat. "May I say-" he began.

"Would you believe it!" she hissed suddenly, paying absolutely no attention to him. "They've stopped their quail dishes!" She looked up to glare idly at the world around her. "It's an outrage! A travesty! A-- Oh, look! Skie Silvershield!" she squealed in delight.

Embarl blinked, and slowly turned around to where she was pointing. A tall, willowy girl was entering the inn, beautifully bedecked in a midnight blue dress and enough jewellery to open up a small shop with. A scrawny looking man was hanging onto her arm, sneering at the attentive crowds as they passed on the way to a table. For all her apparent wealth, Embarl couldn't help but notice how sad she looked.

"Skie Silvershield?" he asked, turning back to face Rinnie. She was engrossed in the menu again, but managed to nod distractedly.

"Oh yes, daughter of one of our former dukes. He got assassinated by that Sarevok chap not long ago, terrible business." She smiled up to him. "Duck, please!"

He shook his head slightly. "I... what?"

"We could have the duck platter!"

"Oh," he said, nodding to her. "An excellent choice, if I might say so." Secretly he was relieved -- he hadn't expected things to be quite this easy; excluding the courtesans, most women in Athkatla scrutinised every choice their partner made when stepping out, which led to the whole event being a carefully planned operation, devoid of any real pleasure. Embarl had returned from several such fares too exhausted from the stress to even contemplate accompanying the lady into her own home.

The girl returned to take their order, smiling pleasantly. She had the same dark hair as the middle-aged man standing behind the bar, amiably conversing with some of the locals, and Embarl figured that she was likely to be his daughter -- indeed, another strict looking girl was occasionally seen going between other tables and the backrooms, carrying platters and goblets, who bore a likewise similarity. Cavorting with the bar staff in _this_ inn would not appear to be a good idea.

This is why he was glad to have Rinnie for company. He graciously allowed her to choose the wine to go with the meal -- though, in reality, he was trying to practice damage avoidance; and if he allowed her to have everything she wanted, then she would not be able to find fault with him. It was a plan that simply couldn't fail.

"So, tell me," she said, when the girl had bustled off to arrange their meal. "Where are you from? Your accent sounds... southern."

"I am from Amn," he said proudly, watching as her eyes opened wider in obvious admiration. "From the city of Athkatla, no less, jewel of the-"

"_Traitorous fiends!_" she shrieked. "Trying to begin a war with us when we were crippled by an iron shortage! Power-mad fanatics!" And then, in a split second, she'd calmed down again. "Still," she chuckled politely, "that was _months_ ago. All in the past, hmm?"

"Er, yes, quite," he agreed, hastily, trying not to stare at her incredulously. He took a deep breath. "So, are you from Baldur's Gate?"

"Oh, no," she shook her head. "I grew up in Beregost. My father was a minstrel who was usually busy performing in one of the inns, and my mother was the governor's cook."

"So your natural creative talent came from your parents?" he asked politely.

She smiled softly. "I imagine so. My mother was a wonderful singer, but she could never perform to an audience, even when my father tried to persuade her. At home, though, she'd sing along as he played the harp... and it was beautiful. I always wanted to be like her."

Embarl smiled back to her. "I'm sure she must be very proud of you, having written a book," he noted.

Rinnie frowned slightly. "I doubt it. She never learnt how to read and thought it was a waste of time."

"Oh." He shifted uncomfortably, trying to work out what to say next. He felt dreadfully out of practice. "So, er, do you play any instruments?"

She beamed widely. "Oh yes!" she gushed. "I learnt the harp and the lute from my father, and when I went to bardic college in Waterdeep I was taught the mandolin and the piano!"

"Wow," said Embarl, suitably impressed. "You're a very talented lady." She blushed slightly, looking down coyly as their platter was served and their wine was placed before them. When they were alone again, he continued. "Did you like Waterdeep? I have never been there."

"It was okay," she shrugged, non-committally. "A bit large, lots of strange people. Oh, look! Carrots!"

Embarl looked in bemusement at the root vegetables floating in the gravy around their roasted duck. "Yes, so there are."

"And so, there was this shop," she went on, helping herself to a hefty plateful, "called 'Halambar Lutes and Harps', run by a man called Halambar, but he was really snobbish and he always used to look down at me, peering over the top of his spectacles while he scribbled away on his parchment with his quill."

"Shameful behaviour," nodded Embarl, patiently waiting for her to put the carving knife and fork down so he could serve himself.

"Hmm, what?" she asked absently, looking up briefly as she peeled away a slice of the bird.

"Halambar," he reminded her. "His attitude -- disgraceful."

"Oh, you've met him too?" she asked, slightly surprised.

"Well, no-"

"He's awful, isn't he?" she continued, ignoring him again. "Did you feel really small when he served you? I did -- when I went in, he peered down at me over his spectacles, and made me feel quite insignificant!"

The thief scratched his ear idly, letting her ramble on.

"Of course, I was only picking up a second hand lute -- an Amnish model, which was quite unlike my old one, but it worked just as well." She put down the knife and fork at last, peering over at him. "You certainly _look_ like some kind of entertainer in that garb," she noted, "but... I don't know. You don't strike me as the musical type."

"Oh, I'm not," he agreed, quickly collecting the cutlery to fill his own plate as she began to tuck in.

"Then why were you in his shop?" she asked with confusion.

"I was..." He sighed, wondering if it was worth trying to make her listen. In the end, he decided it wasn't. "I am very appreciative of music," he finally said, which wasn't technically a lie. He enjoyed others performing, though he, himself, could barely manage more than a few notes on the mouth organ.

"Music is my _life_," she cooed after she finished chewing on a large mouthful of meat. Embarl found it hard to take his eyes off her; she managed to fit _so much_ in... "The rhythm, the notes… the melody! There's just so much... so much raw passion in each song, in the tune that goes with it, in the lyrics sung by its side!" She was staring at him dreamily and he found himself grinning goofily in return. "I just _love_ making music."

"Oh, me too," he murmured. "Me too."

----------

Graham was definitely sound asleep by the time Nara finished her letter, and she picked up her cloak, swathing it around her tightly as she blew out the candles in his room and quietly left, locking the door behind her with the spare key the innkeeper had given her.

She made her way downstairs, noting with disapproval that Aefer was still awake and _still_ drinking, though there was no sign of Cotirso. This didn't bother her much -- she was still annoyed with him, after all. She carefully skirted her way around the drinkers, ensuring that the former guardsman didn't see her, and made her way out into the chilly night, pulling her hood up to shroud her face into even more shadow. Halbazzer had been extremely helpful when she stumbled into his shop, distraught but determined to find Graham, and he'd been the one who mentioned the presence of one of her former tutors, here, in the very city she'd found herself in.

Master Ragefast had been an expert on the Art of summoning, showing his classes a variety of creatures the eager wizard could enslave to his or her will. Nara had always been a bit squeamish about the whole idea, preferring to concentrate on elements and energies than 'fodder' as her classmates fondly referred to their summons. But it had been an essential area of study, and so she'd done enough to make sure she passed the course, then swore never to use the skills again; especially after Master Ragefast disappeared suddenly, one day; the rumours suggested that one of his summons had been _very_ successful, and he'd been seen heading north with a beautiful girl in his carriage.

Nara had ignored the tales. He had always seemed a decent man, if a little eccentric -- but then, most of her peers _were_ eccentric in the ranks of the Cowled Wizards, and he'd never tried to show her just how personalised he'd managed to make his Flesh to Stone, or offered to show her exactly what lay behind _his_ Improved Mantle. She shuddered at the memory of it and drew herself up, wandering through the twisting roads that led towards the Hall of Wonders as she grasped her neatly rolled parchment in her cold hands. To her surprise, she managed to find her way to the area of the city without being accosted once; a novel change from what used to happen in Athkatla.

She wasn't entirely sure where her destination was, but she had a rough idea. The Hall of Wonders was easy enough to locate, and she was relieved to find that there were only a handful of small houses to its west. Master Ragefast's was quite blatantly obvious; it was the only one that was surrounded by a faint shimmering glow that she recognised as his own patent anti-criminal security device. The gargoyles on the roof, large bronze sundial in the garden, and pond full of abnormal looking fish only served to convince her that her hunch was right, and so she made her way carefully to the door and raised her hand to knock upon it firmly.

It swung open before she could, though; the green tinge flickering from existence. Her old teacher stood before her, older and more hunched than she remembered him, but still the same man with the sharp eyes and greying beard. She smiled in delight.

"Nara Goldsheath!" he chided, instantly making her cower slightly. She'd forgotten how terrifying he was when annoyed or angered; how, exactly, she'd been _persuaded_ to finish her classes in Summoning. "Did you learn _nothing_ from me?! You are aware of my safety measures, hmm?"

She nodded dumbly, idly cursing herself for not thinking _enough_ about it.

"And, so, you would know that to touch my door, while it is active, would render you -- most probably -- mute and blind for the rest of your life?"

"Y-yes, Master Ragefast," she stuttered. "I-I..."

"You weren't thinking, were you?" he tutted, still glaring at her. But then the scowl disappeared and the familiar smile she remembered so well came back. "Just like you were all those years ago," he noted, backing away slightly and beckoning to her. "Come in, come in. I must admit, it is a surprise to see you after all these years. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know," she said with a nervous laugh, wandering into his home and looking around with some awe. It was less of a habitat, and more of a lab with a bed in the corner, and only a few comfortable looking chairs. "Graduating and... the like."

"Ah, yes," he mused, shuffling over to check on the contents of one bubbling vial. "You were one chosen to work in that strange Sphere, weren't you? I never did hold much faith in that place... all well and good if you have an interest in the dead, I expect." He gave her an amused look and she smirked.

"Larz didn't make it," she noted. As expected, Ragefast chuckled slightly. He'd never been fond of the boy. "And I was glad to get away, really."

"How is life as a Cowled Wizard, then?" he asked, regarding her carefully. "I must admit, I am quite surprised to see you so far north in such a short time..."

She sighed heavily. There was no point trying to hide anything from her former tutor -- if nothing else, his second speciality was divination... "I left them," she admitted. "Well, I was chased away, really. There was this misunderstanding, you see-"

He held up a hand, causing her to pause. "Nara, my dear... there are _always_ misunderstandings in that group. Don't take it to heart... you'll do well with your teachings with or without them. But... let us talk of more pleasant things. What brings you to my door? I am afraid that I am not in need of an apprentice these days, and your skills would be far in excess of any work I would have for you..."

"Oh no, no, nothing like that," she smiled, perching primly on one of the seats. "I actually had a small favour to ask you. I... well, I wrote a letter for you, meaning just to drop it off and not disturb you this late, but, well..."

"My divination alarm went off when you opened my gate," he noted, sitting across from her. "When I saw it was you, I could scarcely believe my eyes. Give me the letter then, my girl. Let me see what is so important."

She leaned forward and handed him the scroll, sitting in silence as he unfurled it and let his eyes drift over her neat handwriting. She was sure she saw him reading it twice -- a gleam in his eye appearing after the first time, and he seemed to sit up more attentively, appearing to lose years in a few minutes. When he was done, he looked back at her intensely.

"And he still has it in his possession?" he asked urgently. She nodded, and he leaned back in his chair, tapping on the armrest thoughtfully. "Interesting..." he murmured. "Very interesting. So tell me -- what type of creature do you _think_ it is?"

"Well." Nara frowned slightly as she concentrated. "She's never been around long enough for her to tell us anything of any real worth; but from what I've gathered, she was bound to a tree which was cut down and then made into a staff. Somehow, her tie to her tree was transferred to the staff, and now and then, a surge of energy draws her from it."

"And she feels pain when the staff is used?" he asked.

"She does when she's in her natural form," Nara nodded. "At least, she yelled at Aefer when he hit the ogre. That's why I wondered if she was a nymph."

"Yes... yes," Ragefast whispered. "How very interesting."

"Do you think you can help, then?" Nara asked with worry. "When I heard you were here, I immediately thought you'd be able to help -- to at least look at the staff."

"I would certainly be able to examine it for you," he mused, a small smile curling his lips. "Perhaps purchase it from yourselves, for a very fair price, of course, if it is proving to be... bothersome."

Nara shook her head. "I doubt Aefer would want to part with it -- he's quite attached to it, though I do think, in his heart, he wants to free her and let her go back to her natural home. We all do."

"Yes, yes, of course," he repeated. "It would be the only... honourable way." He stood up, wandering over to a nearby table and smiled over to her. "Come tomorrow -- bring your friends, and the staff of course, and I will examine it. See what I can do."

Nara rose to her feet, smiling at him gratefully. "Thank you, Master Ragefast," she said with relief. "It... it means a lot to me to know you'll help me, even... even now I've left the Cowled Wizards."

He nodded to her as she let herself out, and she made her way back to the inn, her heart slightly lighter. This may manage to give them enough of a delay to hang around in the city to ensure Graham healed properly... and if so, it meant that some choices would not have to be made at all.


	14. Chapter 14

Dawn broke over the rooftops of Baldur's Gate as Cotirso watched the sight from the window of his room. Things hadn't worked out too badly, in the end. Sure, Graham had borne the wrath of Umberlee, which he would concede might have been _partly_ his fault... but he was back with them, and well enough! And they had enough coin to enjoy some moderate entertainments here in the city, to keep a roof over their heads until their next grand adventure. Yes, things could have been worse.

As he left his room he decided to visit the Shrine to Lathander later that day, and thank Him for the protection He cast across His most faithful. The others... well, they would be off doing their own heretic things, as usual; running to him when they hurt themselves or needed to repent. He frowned slightly and began to descend the stairs. Actually, he'd never seen _any_ of them show any kind of penance...

Raised voices welcomed him as he pushed open the door that led into the common room of the Elfsong. Even this early, there were a few regulars lining the bar, and the rest of his companions, minus Graham, were sitting around one of the larger tables obviously having some kind of discussion. Nara was scowling, Aefer was looking suspicious, Embarl was looking... well, he looked as if he was asleep. The cleric wandered over.

"Good mor-" he began.

"Why does he want to see it?" Aefer completely ignored his appearance, not even acknowledging him as he sat down next to the large fighting man.

"Because he thinks he can maybe break the enchantment on it," snapped Nara, not even bothering to give Cotirso the withering stare that had been her regular method of greeting him since the unfortunate occurrence on the bridge. 

Embarl let out a rather loud snore, his head resting heavily on his folded arms.

"So _you_ say," snorted Aefer.

"He only wants to look at it!" Nara exclaimed impatiently. "Study it a bit, examine the patterns and ridges on it -- see if he can work out what makes it spawn this creature!"

"I KNEW IT!" Aefer thumped the table with his fists as he stood up, causing Embarl to jump awake and fall off his seat. "WELL," he continued, roaring so loudly that the whole tavern stopped to look at him. "YOU CAN TELL YOUR FRIEND THAT NO ONE IS PUTTING THEIR HANDS ON MY STAFF!"

Nara was standing, too, by now, her face red with anger. "He'd only want to look at it! Maybe see you using it a few times, so he can see what happens when she comes!"

A nearby gnome, who had been sipping on his ale while he watched the argument, suddenly began choking rather violently.

"It's my staff and I'm pretty sure she's happy with how I use it!"

"She never looks happy when you're finished!"

Aefer opened his mouth to reply, but seemed to be lost for words. Instead he tossed his head dramatically and stomped off towards the door, his weapon held tightly in his grasp. Nara glared at his departing figure as Embarl slowly clambered up from the floor, looking dishevelled and annoyed.

"Do you mind not shouting quite so much?" he asked in a low voice. "Some of us have a sore he... are quite ill."

Nara threw the thief a poisonous look, then flounced off towards the stairs leading up to their rooms. Cotirso shook his head sadly; such a childish display by the two adults. It was then that he noticed that the entire attention of the tavern was still on their table, and it only took him a split second to realise how he could utilise it.

"My friends!" he announced, leaping to his feet. "Tell me... how many of you here truly know the delights of a lifetime worshipping Lathander...?"

----------

"Hey, at least you've learnt something new," said Embarl.

Cotirso grunted a response, signalling that he didn't really care much for the thief's opinion. It didn't seem to matter, however.

"You've learnt that it only takes one of your really small curing prayers to fix up a black eye!" Embarl leaned back in his chair, almost triumphantly, as if he'd just shared the true meaning of life with the priest. Cotirso continued to ignore him as best as he could.

It had been just over an hour since the riot. Most of the furniture had managed to survive being thrown around somehow, and all of the troublemakers, except Cotirso, had been removed from the establishment. The cleric was only allowed to stay when Embarl took the tavern owner to the side and gently explained that his companion suffered from slight mental impairments, and promised that it would never happen again. Alyth was a tall, stern looking woman, but Embarl's roundabout flattery and rather complimentary remarks about her buxom appearance seemed to work in his favour. The thief was glad; though it wasn't as classy as the Three Old Kegs, but it had atmosphere; it had _adventure_.

Or, the rumours he'd heard suggested it had. Some spoke of the Hero of the Sword Coast having stayed at this very establishment only a year or so before, though Embarl found that quite hard to believe. Why someone would stay somewhere like _this_ when they could probably have gotten a room in the Duchal Palace, was pushing the boundary of an otherwise acceptable tale, really. It wasn't the first time that he wished he'd paid more attention to politics -- or even just listened to bards a bit more, rather than making off with their purses. Still, people in the city always seemed happy enough to talk and he was learning, though slowly.

An immense shadow fell across their table as a tall, well-built figure loomed over them. Cotirso ignored it, continuing to finger his tender eye, and Embarl merely offered an amiable nod of his head.

"Afternoon, Aefer," he said as the other man took a seat, waving over to the barmaid who seemed to have a peculiar interest in Aefer which hadn't gone unnoticed. She immediately smiled and grabbed a mug. "Have a nice walk?" 

"Can you believe the insolence of that girl?!"

Embarl wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement, and so he took a careful sip of his own drink.

"Does she think I can't see what she's trying to do?" Aefer continued, almost frothing as he spoke. "She's been trying to get this staff away from me for ages!"

Embarl opened his mouth to point out that they hadn't, exactly, _had_ the staff for ages, but it was futile: Aefer, seemingly, wasn't prepared to listen to anyone except himself.

"And she says this _friend_ of hers can help! HAH!" Aefer paused momentarily to wipe the spittle from his mouth. "She has a friend?! That's a bit of a far-fetched tale, wouldn't you agree?"

Embarl continued his careful silence while maintaining an interested eye contact with the slightly irked former guardsman.

"And even if that's true, and she does have a _friend_," Aefer virtually hissed the word, as if the mere act of saying it caused him to become dirty, while reaching out and accepting the tankard that the barmaid had brought over. "Even if it _is_ true," he continued to rant, "it's _my _staff and it's _MY_ nymph!"

Embarl was suddenly aware of the next moment; it seemed to last four times longer then the other moments had, and a look of clarity flashed over Aefer's face as he realised what he'd said. The barmaid froze, her eyes widening slowly with a rather distasteful expression, and even Cotirso's mouth had begun to gape.

"Ah… heh. Ahem. I mean, Viola is perfectly happy working alongside me," Aefer said quickly, his eyes darting up to the serving girl, then quickly scanning the other patrons in the room. "She'd be... dismayed if we were parted without me consulting her first, at least."

"Uh, yes," Embarl managed, clearing his throat. "Perhaps it's time to confer with her, then?"

Aefer glared at him. "You know how difficult it is to arrange a... an, er, convenient time."

The thief shrugged lazily. "I'm sure a charismatic man like yourself can sort something out," he grinned, innocently glancing up to the barmaid, who was lingering beside their table. Aefer's eyes followed, and the fighter visibly reddened.

"Well, since it is a purely business arrangement, I suppose that I could endeavour to look into the matter and schedule an appropriate time to discuss our future working relationship."

Embarl nodded soberly. "You're a wise, wise man, my friend," he said, only letting himself smirk slightly when the waitress had wandered far enough away. "Best run off then, and smack your staff around a little. Only fair to give Shrieking Sylvia a bit of a warning about her impeding visit to the Mystical Man."

"Her name's Viola, not Sylvia," muttered Aefer sulkily, downing his beer in one long drink before stalking away from the table. Embarl watched him go, then turned to face Cotirso.

"So, Roger. Is it safe to bring you along without risking the wrath of another deity being rained down on us?"

----------

"My, my, my... what a delightful specimen you are..."

Embarl exchanged a look with Graham which conveyed his apparent dislike of Nara's former tutor. The group were huddled in the mage's small home, and only Nara had moved more than four feet away from the doorway. Even Aefer was lingering behind, despite the worried glance he kept throwing at his precious weapon.

"Do you know how to break the enchantment, Master Ragefast?" Nara asked. Embarl thought she sounded quite timid. It was a pleasant change.

The older man started slightly, jerking his head up and noticing them, almost as if he'd forgotten their presence. Slowly, he gave them a toothy smile. "Oh, I think so... I think so. Maybe not right away, you understand, but... with some time, I think we could set her free. Yes... I would like to be able to set her... free."

Embarl felt his eyebrow rise.

"How long will it take?" came Cotirso's voice. "It sounds like it would be a complicated arcane rite?"

"Complex and elaborate, but nothing overly taxing for someone of my skill and... experience with such beings," Ragefast murmured, his eyes locked back onto the staff. "A tenday would allow me to have time to study and prepare the essential invocations."

"A tenday?" Nara sounded surprised. The older mage nodded to her.

Embarl began to shake his head. "Oh, I didn't realise it'd take so long," he said. "The thing is, we can't possibly-"

He was interrupted by a loud donging noise, which caused minor tremors to ripple across the floor beneath their feet. More glances were exchanged, though these spoke more of sudden fear.

"The... doorbell?" Nara ventured.

Ragefast had shuffled over to a workbench and was staring intently into a bowl. Embarl was beginning to wonder if he was paying any attention to them at all when suddenly the mage shrieked, bringing his hand down violently on the counter top.

"Ramazith!" he shouted, whirling around and stalking towards the group. Embarl paled.

"Rama-what?" he asked Nara. "Is that some conjuration?"

She shook her head helplessly as the companions scattered, letting the annoyed wizard stomp past them on the way to his front door, which he threw open angrily. A collective gasp was let out when another man was revealed to be waiting there.

"Ragefast," the stranger said darkly, then took one look at the staff in the other wizard's hands. The newcomer's eyes widened. "You have..." he muttered, looking up to meet his peer's relentless glare. "How?"

"It is _mine_," Ragefast snapped. "You will leave, Ramazith, and leave now! And next time my wards will _not _fail me -- you will not make it past the gate!"

Ramazith smirked, his bony hands snaking towards the belt that hung loosely around his robes. One lingered near an expensive looking leather pouch, while the other hovered over an ornately jewelled dagger-hilt. "You said that last time, Ragefast," he smiled. "But lovely Adela was taken from you."

"Just as she was taken from you!" Ragefast shrieked. 

Ramazith's eyes flashed with anger. "I will not let another slip away! I will not let you have what I covet for myself!" There was a glint as the dagger was drawn and plunged forward. Ragefast instinctively blocked the attack with the staff. Aefer roared in fury.

"Do you know how much I had to pay to come back to life after those interfering fools abducted Adela?" Nara's old tutor was like a man possessed, twirling the staff around expertly as he advanced on the retreating Ramazith.

"Of course I do!" the other mage snorted. "Did you think the simpletons allowed me to live when they realised why I wanted her? But this time... this time I have somewhere _much_ better to take one! Somewhere where we won't be found by interfering imbeciles!"

"No! The one enslaved to this staff is mine! She will be _mine_!" roared Ragefast.

**"NO!**" Embarl jumped slightly at the sound of Aefer's voice, and even the warring wizards paused to look over to the mountain of a man who was rapidly advancing on them. "She doesn't belong to either of you!" With ease, the furious guardsman picked up a mage in each hand and banged their heads together so hard that Embarl winced. Then, seemingly satisfied with the newly limp bodies, he dropped them to the ground, where his staff fell with a soft 'clunk' noise and a flash.

Viola blinked twice then threw herself at Aefer. But this time, rather than trying to claw his eyes out or bite his ears off, she wrapped her arms around him and seemed to give him a fairly warm embrace while he stood there in a stunned silence.

"You saved me!" she squealed. "You saved me from those pi-"

Another flash. Aefer was still standing there, a goofy expression seemingly plastered to his face. The staff was lying inconspicuously on the grass. Embarl turned and tutted loudly at Nara.

"You said he was your friend," he said, in a tone that teachers use when dealing with naughty pupils. She flushed angrily.

"He was!" she snapped. "He was one of my tutors, and a highly respected man!"

"With a thing for nymphs, it seems..." said Cotirso, quietly coming out from the small house. In his hands were several locks of fine hair. Nara looked horrified.

"Perhaps we should get out of here before they come around," suggested Graham. "Assuming, that is, that he hasn't killed them."

Embarl reached out a foot and nudged the nearest mage. Ramazith twitched slightly. "Looks like they're still alive. And being dead didn't stop them last time, it seems, so either way -- you have a point." The thief bent down and picked up the staff, thrusting it into Aefer's arms. The fighter didn't even acknowledge him.

"Oh, for Mask's sake." The rogue rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and pulled his arm back. "Last chance, Aefer -- snap out of it, otherwise I'll have to resort to violence!"

Aefer continued to smile dreamily. Right up until Embarl's fist made a high-speed impact with his groin.

"Was that necessary?" asked Graham, eying the crumpled fighter as he kneeled on the lawn with silent tears streaming down his cheeks.

Embarl shrugged. "Probably not, but he'll get over that quicker than he would've gotten over Viola's affection. And time is of the essence!"

"It is?" Nara eyed him suspiciously as the ranger and the cleric tried to help Aefer to his feet, urging him to walk with them.

"Ah... yes," the thief replied, slightly hesitantly. "You see... I've found us some work."

----------

The bags had been hastily packed and rations had been bought from the kitchen as they'd left. Now, the group were waiting in the chilly night air as Embarl tried to explain how he'd gotten them into this expedition.

"And so, when she finished telling me about the compositions she'd done, I asked her about the tales they were based on. And one of them was -- and you won't _believe_ this! -- but _one_ of them was... well, it was-"

"Durlag's Tower?"

"Shut up, Roger," Embarl said sulkily. "Yes, Durlag's Tower. And I happened to mention that we'd been thinking about heading that way-"

"Oh, _we had_, had we?" asked Nara curtly. She hadn't appeared at all pleased to be listening to Embarl's recollection of his date with Rinnie.

"Sure we had," the thief snorted. "So, she got quite excited by this, and... and said she'd meet us tonight, here."

There was a long pause with an uncomfortable silence.

"And that... that we'd all go there, together," Embarl finished flatly.

Aefer was nodding slowly. "Well, it'll keep Viola safer than she would be in this infested city." He threw Nara a dangerously poisonous look. "I'll go with it."

Cotirso looked thoughtful. "It would be folly to go to such a place without an experienced healer and dedicated holy man by your side. I suppose it is my duty to go with you."

"Gee, thanks," muttered Embarl darkly.

"Did you see how injured Graham was?" hissed Nara, stalking right up to Embarl so that her face was mere inches away from his own, and waving her hand behind her in the vague direction of the ranger. "Or were you too busy obsessing over your new _bard_? He still needs plenty of rest and recuperation, and you expect him to go dungeon crawling?!"

Embarl propped himself up onto the tips of his toes so he could see past Nara's aggressive stance, and raised an eyebrow at Graham. The ranger just rolled his eyes slightly and offered a discrete nod of the head.

"Yes?"

Nara gaped at him and he closed his eyes, preparing for the slap that never came. Instead, she wheeled off, muttering what sounded like ancient Amnish obscenities under her breath.

"Does that mean you'll come along too then?" 


	15. Chapter 15

"Oh my, your bag is so red! And look, it even has extra pouches along the sides! Where _did_ you get it from? No! Wait! Don't tell me -- it was from the small haberdashery four streets and one lane away, wasn't it?"

Nara had never been one to grind her teeth. At least, she didn't think she'd ever been one to partake in such an uncivilised manner before... well, before now. But her teeth were grinding as if there was no tomorrow, and it was all she could do to nod her head and keep a vaguely civil demeanour.

"I knew it!" Rinnie clapped her hands together excitedly. I saw it the other day, and you know what?" The bard paused for a second, turning around and picking something up from the ground that Nara hadn't noticed before. As if in slow motion, the cheerful red-head was waving an almost exact replica of Nara's knapsack at her. The only difference was...

"... that mine has purple handles, and yours has blue! Isn't that _fabulous_?"

"Completely," Nara muttered, feeling herself turn pink. She wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or annoyance, or a mixture of both. Aefer's rumbling chuckle from somewhere nearby wasn't helping matters.

"Still, at least it means we won't mix them up, since they have different coloured- Oh, look!" Rinnie's squeal made everyone turn to look where she was pointing.

"Eh... look at what?" asked Aefer, scratching his head.

"There! Over there! Tall man, red cloak, pointy hat!"

Embarl screwed up his eyes and peered. It was very early, but there were still plenty of people around, mingling to trade and socialise alike. "Can't... see... anyone..."

Cotirso shook his head in agreement. "Nor me."

Rinnie threw her hands up in disgust and moved forward, all the way across the street. Nara wondered, somewhat hopefully, if she'd wander into the store she was approaching, and possibly never return; and so the mage was dismayed when the bard stopped and pointed to the man at her side.

"Oh, _there_," said Graham with a slight roll of the eye. Cotirso regarded him sceptically.

"Shouldn't you have keen sight, being a ranger? Why didn't you spot him?"

Graham snorted. "There's nothing wrong with my eyesight, I just don't like cities. Can see better out in the open. You're thinking of the more roguish types," he added, looking over at Embarl slyly. Cotirso turned his almost accusing gaze to the thief.

"I'm always looking for things that aren't there," Embarl replied defensively. "How can I be expected to notice something as gaudy as that? And anyway... if you're so pally with your God, how come he didn't tell you where to look?"

Cotirso sniffed disdainfully. "Lathander has much better things to do than to point out a man with bad fashion sense."

There were murmured agreements all round.

"Well, are we ready to go then?" Embarl asked as Rinnie returned, looking rather flushed.

"I've got everything I need!" declared Aefer, waving his staff around.

"I got us a fairly good deal on healing potions from the under-educated acolyte at the Shrine of Oghma," smiled Cotirso. Embarl stared at him.

"The Temple of Oghma? Are you _sure_?"

Cotirso glared at him frostily. "I think you're forgetting that _I_ am a man of the faith-"

"Then you'll know that Oghma's priests are usually quite scholarly..."

There was a pause. "Well, it might have been his first day," suggested Aefer helpfully.

"Or he might have been some shady character, looking to fob off some dubious stolen goods," remarked Embarl knowingly. Nara gave him an accusatory look and he scowled at her.

"Well, it doesn't matter," said Graham with an easy shrug. "We can just hope we don't get to the stage where we need to use them."

"Good plan," agreed Aefer, clapping the ranger on the back. Graham winced slightly, still not full recovered from his injuries, but insisting that he was fit enough for the journey. Nara had been less than impressed with it all, and only agreed to travel with them so she could ensure that he stayed relatively safe.

One by one they picked up their bags and various possessions and started to amble towards the gate of the city. It wasn't long after dawn, and so the sun was still hanging quite low in the sky and casting shadows across the roads. There was a comfortable silence before Cotirso spoke.

"So... who was that guy in the red, then?"

Rinnie smiled over to him, tossing her braided hair around extravagantly. "Oh, that was just Elminster."

The other five stopped and stared at her. Then, as one, they turned and ran back.

----------

Almost two hours later they managed to exit the city, coaxing Graham to cross the bridge after sending Cotirso on ahead. The ranger refused to cross at the same time as the priest, which everyone seemed to understand, except for the cleric himself.

"I don't see why you're all so worried!" he shouted, standing off in the distance on the relatively safe bank. Graham twitched slightly, casting a wary eye down at the river. It seemed to be flowing normally enough.

"So much for our early departure," muttered Embarl darkly. He was leading them across determinedly, Nara striding along by his side.

"I didn't see you demanding we stop, calling us back and insisting we got on with our _grand adventure_," the mage replied curtly. "In fact, you were leading the way, weren't you?"

"I wanted to see if his money pouch really _is_ bigger on the inside than it is on the outside," replied Embarl defensively.

Nara peered at him. "I... see. Well, we're on our way now, so you'll be happy." Her last words were spoken as she threw a decidedly hostile behind her towards Rinnie, who was walking between Aefer and Graham. Both men were smiling at her, listening to her tales with fascinated expressions. At least it was keeping Graham's mind off the river.

Embarl gave the mage a curious look. "I thought you'd have liked having another girl around! You know, someone to discuss jewellery and nails with, that sort of thing."

Nara's stare was made of pure poison. "I don't know what the girls you dallied with back in Athkatla were like," she said haughtily, "but I will have you know that I have no interest in discussing anything like that with anyone, let alone a... a _bard_."

Embarl burst out laughing. "So _that's_ what it is, is it? You don't like her because... because she's a bard?"

Nara rolled her eyes. "I don't expect you to understand."

"Oh, I understand," Embarl said cheerily. "You don't like her because she's naturally charismatic, she can spin a good tale, play a range of instruments beautifully, and has a voice most women would _die_ for. How silly of me not to realise she'd have that effect on you!"

"They dabble in magic that they just don't understand," Nara insisted, studying a nail as she walked, then realising what she was doing, hastily dropping her hand to her side again. "They think they can harness the power they play with without devoting their time -- their attention, to it! Instead, they spend their time, entertaining the masses, woefully unskilled with even the most basic of spells, and when they try anything complicated..." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "They just have no _concentration_."

Embarl nodded slowly. "Your magic means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

She groaned. "Yes, Embarl, it does -- strangely enough, I _was_ a Cowled Wizard, remember?" she reminded him, stalking off to join Cotirso on the bank as Embarl fell back, wondering what he'd managed to say _this_ time to offend her. But he wasn't given much time to think about it; within a few seconds, his arm had been taken by Rinnie, and she walked with him the rest of the way as Aefer and Graham followed.

"It's so good of you to let me join you like this," she said, giving him a warm smile that almost made him think she was normal. "It'll be such an adventure -- the perfect material for my next work!"

"I can only hope it'll be exciting enough for you to full appreciate," Embarl replied smoothly. "Of course, should any unexpected dangers present themselves, I will do everything I can to ensure your... safety." He finished his sentence by giving her a smouldering look which made her blush and turn away. He grinned and caught a glimpse of Nara glaring over at him, but she too averted her eyes before he could raise his eyebrow.

They strolled along leisurely from this point, all sense of urgency having been abandoned as the sun shone down on them gloriously. It started to feel like a pleasant stroll across a beautiful summer meadow, rather than a journey to their possible doom. Embarl saw no need to rush to the fight; it'd been there for hundreds of years already, he was sure it'd wait a few more days.

And so with birdsong in the air and the scent of freshly bloomed flowers cascading around them, they made their way south with the intention of reaching the Friendly Arms Inn within two days. From there, they'd go to Beregost, making a side trip to some wizard that Graham knew, before heading to the east, and over to Durlag's Tower. Embarl quietly reflected on their trip so far; he'd not imagined, for one second, that things could have turned out as they had, so it was a pleasant surprise. The company was, on the whole, good, and they seemed to manage to find enough to keep them busy to make a comfortable living, one way or another. And now, the weather was great, the future looked promising, and soon they'd be lauded as the Heroes of Durlag's Tower-

"Argh!" Cotirso screamed and dove to the side, away from the ground that had begun to explode at his feet. Graham pulled back, dragging Nara with him as Aefer immediately brandished his staff and picked up a defensive position. Embarl froze at Rinnie's side, watching with horror as the ground trembled and shook, and then erupted into... into...

"Killer insects!" screamed Aefer furiously, driving his staff at the creature and smashing one of its legs. Nara shot some fire towards it at the same time as Rinnie directed some magic missiles into its carapace. Graham cautiously made his way forward, jabbing his sword into the fleshy areas that were exposed on the creature's side and causing it to chitter madly. More flames engulfed it, this time from Cotirso, and with another whack from Aefer's staff and stab from Graham's sword, the insect fell down dead.

"Impressive leadership skills there," noted Nara dryly. Embarl scowled at her.

"Hey, there's something glinting there... underneath its squished body!" exclaimed Rinnie, pointing to midway along its carapace. She was right -- something was definitely glistening in the sun, and all eyes turned to Embarl.

"Oh, wait now-" he began.

"You're the thief," said Aefer simply.

"You're the best man for the job," Cotirso agreed.

"You usually won't let anyone else near the potential treasure," observed Graham.

"Fine, FINE!" Embarl growled, sullenly making his way over to where the fallen creature lay, ichor seeping out from the stab wounds and sinking slowly into the crumbly earth beneath it. With a barely concealed whimper, the thief reached out and moved one of the legs slightly, jumping back and shrieking as the appendage twitched at his touch. Cotirso tutted slightly.

"It's not unknown for bodies to do that," he said unhelpfully.

Embarl ignored him, making his was cautiously back to the leg, and using a bit more force to move it out of the way. To his delight, Rinnie had been correct -- a small pile of gems and coins seemed to have seeped out from the inside of the creature and were now resting on the ground, waiting for him to take them...

"Ho there! You should be careful before you go putting your hands so deep within such a moist cavern!"

Embarl looked up to see a newcomer approaching them; a strange looking fellow, not quite as tall as Graham, and positively dwarfed by Aefer. Lithe in body, grinning like a loon, and with war-paint daubed on his face in a highly suspect manner. Embarl wondered if he was a druid.

"You know what this magnificent creature is, don't you?" the man asked. Embarl noted he had pointed ears; it was worse than a druid. It was an elf.

"It was an ankheg," sighed Graham. "Yes, we know."

"Well, I didn't," shrugged Aefer honestly. The elf grinned at him and seemed to rise onto his tip-toes so he could clap the fighter on the shoulder.

"There is no shame in admitting when you are out of your depth," the elf noted, his eyes roving over towards Rinnie and then Nara. Each were treated to what Embarl suspected was meant to be a sultry look. "And let us not remain strangers, not when the prospective friends are so fair." He reached out, taking Nara's hand gently in his own and raising it to his lips. "I am Coran, and I am _very_ pleased to meet you."

"Uh, likewise," replied Nara, snatching her hand back at the first available opportunity. Coran didn't appear to be overly offended, however; quickly moving onto Rinnie, who giggled coyly at his embrace.

"So what were you saying about where I put my hands?" asked Embarl irritably. Something about the elf's presence was beginning to annoy him, though the others, excluding Nara, seemed quite indifferent to him.

Coran turned to Graham and flashed him a magnificent smile. "You, good sir, knew the manner of creature you bravely fought," he said, swaggering a little as he skirted around the group, almost as if he was dancing. "You would have been about to give him the same advice as I was, would you not?"

Graham grinned slightly. "Well, I was _going_ to... I just hadn't decided _when_..."

Embarl glared darkly at the ranger. "Why? What would have happened?"

"My dear boy," the elf said patronisingly, approaching Embarl and putting his arm around his shoulder. "These ankhegs spit _acid_ at their enemies -- quite why this one didn't, I'm not sure... perhaps it didn't have the time, or perhaps... perhaps that is why its innards are now spread out on the ground, melting quite quickly into... nothing."

Embarl looked down again. Sure enough, various pieces of flesh and ooze seemed to be burning away into nothing with a faint hissing noise. He felt himself pale.

"And if I... if I'd touched... touched..."

Coran nodded sympathetically. "A waste of a good hand, I'd wager," he remarked, stealing a sly glance at the two women again. Rinnie giggled some more and Nara glared. "Ah, like the opposing seasons, warmth and chill," the elf cooed. "It makes a man know he's alive to see such beauty."

"So... how exactly-" Embarl began.

"Ah! Let me!" proclaimed the elf, smiling his dashing smile once again. Swiftly, he pulled a pair of gloves free from his backpack and put them onto his hands. Then, delicately, he reached forward and picked up the remaining valuables that had survived the acid attack.

"All yours," he said, removing the large glove and handing it to the thief. Embarl managed a muttered thanks, then deposited the contents, carefully, into one of the spare bags that Graham always seemed to have. He held out the gloves for the elf to take back, but Coran shook his head.

"No, take them, please -- you'll need them if you're to travel in these lands for any length of time, and they were only my spares!"

"What kind of gloves _are_ they?" asked Rinnie, peering at them with curiosity. "I don't think I've ever seen anything like them before."

"Ah, my friend -- these are top of the range gauntlets, straight from Athkatla!" the elf smiled, raising his hand to wave at them as he wandered off. "I'm sure they'll serve you well, and who knows... one day we may meet again! Until then... adieu!"

Rinnie waved enthusiastically at the departing elf while the others crowded round Embarl, taking a look at the special gloves. The thief discovered a small tag, neatly sewn into the inside of the rightmost gauntlet, and he pulled it free, squinting as he held it up to the sunlight in order to read it.

_Amazing Adventurer Ankheg-Hide Accessories -- A Jansen Corporation Product._


	16. Chapter 16

"So it really works?" Aefer sounded quite surprised, his eyebrows only lowering as Embarl nodded, withdrawing more valuables from the guts of another ankheg. "Well, throw me as far as Silverymoon," the ex-guardsman muttered. "It must be the first thing he's done that's been successful."

"Jan Jansen..." Nara muttered. "I'm pretty sure I've heard of him. Always used to be hanging outside the council building back home. One day he tried to sell me... uh, never mind."

Embarl peered at her curiously as he carefully removed his new gloves, folding them neatly and placing them back in his backpack. "What did he try to sell you?"

Nara's cheeks flushed slightly. "It doesn't matter."

"Aye, he was always outside the Council Building," Aefer said, leaning on his staff. "That's where we caught him last time; Trax marched right up to him and accosted him, thinking he'd caught him in the act of selling illegal goods. Turns out he was just discussing the weather with some adventuring types. Trax didn't think much of it though -- or of my jokes." The guardsman sighed. "Snapped at Jan, he did, and demanded I follow him back to the office. I took one look back and there goes Jan, off with his new friends, while I get lectured about my lack of professionalism, my pike taken away, and escorted to the gates. After latrine duty."

Embarl and Nara gave him sympathetic looks. Graham had wandered off with Rinnie, explaining to her what some of the local plant life was. Cotirso was sitting in prayer, oblivious to everything.

"I know how you feel," Embarl sighed. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and overheard one of my bosses talking about killing another one of my bosses." Nara nodded understandingly, Aefer rolled his eyes. "He decided it'd be best if my mouth was shut permanently, if you know what I mean. Sent these new recruits after me, and they only asked for my dagger! Told me to get out of there while I could, and wandered off, letting me live!"

"They don't sound like proper Shadow Thieves to me," remarked Nara dubiously.

"Nor me," Embarl agreed. "Didn't even look like it. Right motley bunch they were, you'd never believe me if I told you."

"Go on," Aefer encouraged, glancing over to Cotirso. "He's still going, so we've got time."

"Well," Embarl frowned in recollection. "I can't remember much about the one who spoke to me, strangely enough. Tall man, dark hair, pretty non-descript if you know what I mean. I was surprised he was the leader, considering the others. There was this really tall man, scars across his face, grey hair -- I mean, he looked exactly like a paladin, but he was meant to be a Shadow Thief? And beside him was this terrified looking girl with long blonde hair -- quite pretty, if you like them skittish. If she was a Shadow Thief, I'll eat my dagger."

Nara was frowning. "Wait," she said. "They sound terribly... familiar. Was there another man with them, in a bright red robe?"

Embarl nodded. "I wasn't sure if he really was with them, or if he just happened to arrive just after them, and leave just before they turned around," he said. "He seemed to be trying to keep as far away from them as possible..."

"As if he looked down at them?" asked Nara. "They're the ones who took over the running of the Planar Sphere while I trained there! The man in red, he was called... Edward, or something. Fabulous mage, limited inter-personal skills. Have no idea about the others, because..." she sniffed slightly. "Only the blonde girl had any magical knowledge, and it was limited."

Aefer was frowning. "Those are the people Jansen was talking to," he muttered. "And you're right -- one of them _is_ a knight -- Sir Keldorn Firecam! There were two others with him by then, though..."

Embarl shook his head slightly. "I can't remember anyone else."

"I can," said Nara. She, too, was frowning. "A strange man, I thought he was an elf at first, but... apparently he was..." her voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper, "a _tiefling_!"

Aefer nodded. "Aye," he agreed. "Blue haired young fellow, quite a lot of ear jewellery?"

Nara nodded solemnly as Embarl exclaimed, "Oh! I remember him!"

"He was there too," Aefer confirmed. "And there was another guy, with long black hair, feathers woven into it, paint daubed all over his face. Quiet chap, seemed very quietly spoken when asked his name, though heavens if I can remember what it was. He actually left them in a different direction, though..."

"He wasn't there when I saw them," Nara mused. "Or was he? Actually... he might have been -- I'm pretty sure there was someone lingering on the fringe of it all, easy to miss..."

"He could have been with them when they came for me," admitted Embarl with a shrug. "Can't say I remember anyone that ordinary looking though."

"I can!" came a voice behind them. Cotirso was beginning to stand up, his eyes ablaze with anger. "A tall man with dark hair and a hood, a red robed wizard, a long black-haired man, a knight in his shining armour, and a demon with blue hair! All being led by that... by that _harpy_ with the blonde hair and the large blue eyes, who _ousted _me from my rightful place in Lathander's Church!"

Embarl nodded slowly and looked around the group. "We all met the _same_ adventurers? Well, except Rinnie and Graham. Maybe... my, my. What a small world it is. You'd almost think they were special."

----------

Graham had no recollection of ever meeting anyone like the people they described, though Rinnie wasn't so sure, demanding a detailed description of the plainest man Embarl could ever remember seeing.

"Er, he had a tiny scar on his right cheek," Embarl said desperately. He almost had a headache with the effort of trying to remember.

"And a lisp," Nara added thoughtfully. "Quite a pronounced lisp, actually..."

"His eyes were blue, but they seemed to lighten sometimes," mused Cotirso. "Almost turning green."

"He had a whopper of a spear," grinned Aefer. "Easily taller than him, with a magnificent point, and carvings all down the-"

"I'm sure he's the man who gave me the book I needed for my research," remarked Rinnie, scratching her nose absently as she ignored Aefer's ramblings about the man's weapon. "But none of his companions sound very familiar at all."

"Maybe he met them all in Athkatla," suggested Nara.

"It's the most likely thing," Rinnie agreed. "One would wonder why he departed from the company of his last group though."

"Maybe they just weren't that close," Embarl speculated. "Or they grew apart. People do that, after all."

"Yes... they do," said Nara quietly, sighing as she dropped back to walk behind them all. Embarl gave her a curious look, but she avoided eye contact.

"Well, we could have just met two very similar looking people, of course," Rinnie acknowledged. "After all, the man I dealt with became the Hero of Baldur's Gate!"

Embarl gaped at her, promptly tripping over a branch that had been lying quite prominently in his path. "Are you sure?" he asked when he'd finished staggering around.

"Of course I am," she snorted. "I was at the Duchal Palace Ball that celebrated the end of the Iron Crisis after they'd fought Duke Sarevok Anchev somewhere under the city! I was trying to get close to them to see if I could write their tale, but..." She sighed miserably. "Apparently they already had a bard travelling with them."

"I'm sure she wasn't anywhere near as talented as you, though," Embarl remarked charmingly. Nara snorted.

"_He_ turned out to be a useless buffoon. The story was fated not to be told, unfortunately for me. Do we have any eggs?"

"Er..." Embarl looked questioningly over to Cotirso.

"We do," the priest nodded.

"Fantastic!" Rinnie exclaimed. "I'm terribly hungry."

----------

They camped overnight some way still north of the Friendly Arms Inn, but past the ankheg infested area, which was just as well, as the gloves that Coran had gifted them had begun to melt away into nothing.

"Typical Jansen dross," muttered Embarl, tossing the tattered gauntlets to the side as Aefer chuckled knowingly. "I don't know why I ever trusted them."

"At least the burns were only minor," the guardsman commented dryly. "Cotirso was saying that if they'd been more serious, he'd have had to have prayed properly."

Embarl sniggered with Aefer despite the dark glares that the priest cast over at them both. Even Graham grinned slightly, slowly stirring the pot that was sitting over the low burning fire.

"What's with Nara and that book?" Embarl wondered out loud, looking over to where the mage was sitting, her face buried in the pages of the tome on her lap. "She's been with us for... well, a long time, and I've never, ever seen her with a book."

"She got it from Sorcerous Sundries," Cotirso said. "Said she'd felt helpless without one after leaving her own behind in Athkatla."

"That'll explain why she's been so rubbish then," Aefer remarked, idly tapping his staff against the ground. It had become a habit he was finding hard to break.

"I've never used a spellbook," Rinnie announced happily. "Using all those wonderful pages for some runes is such a dreadful waste... if I can't keep it in my memory, like a good song, or a haunting melody, then I don't need it!"

"A positively refreshing attitude," Embarl said, smiling over to the red-head bard. He found it completely impossible to talk to her, it seemed, without trying to charm her one way or another. He still didn't know why this was, but he'd been having little in the way of luck, and he started to feel frustrated; but then she smiled back to him, and all was right in the world once again.

"Maybe you could tell us a tale or two while we eat," suggested Graham quietly. The bard nodded thoughtfully as she stared at the small flames licking around the bottom of their pot.

"I suppose so..." she said. "I know quite a few that might be entertaining enough for an evening narration, and it'd be my pleasure to tell you of them. Do you know that of all the elements, the easiest one to control is fire?"

The men exchanged quick, subtle glances. "Really?" Aefer asked eventually.

"Oh yes," Rinnie said, her eyes still locked on the burning wood. "Most mages will harness the power of flames long before they can hope to work with air or water, for example. And many druids find they can communicate with the servants of fire before they can understand those who live by air or earth or water."

Embarl nodded slowly; most mages he'd known, admittedly, could shoot an arrow of flame from their hands long before they learnt the infamous party-killer known as 'Lightning Bolt' -- the single most awful spell for your group's mage to cast while standing in a confined space, and seemingly, the only one they could remember at the time...

"What about those acid things you people can do?" asked Aefer curiously.

"Acid's not really an element," Graham said, scratching his nose slowly. "It's more a chemical."

"Like Black Lotus?" asked Cotirso.

"Er... not quite," the ranger replied awkwardly. "Anyway, Rinnie... about this tale you... were... going... to tell..."

The men looked back over to the bard, then exchanged yet another round of quick glances; for the red-headed girl had fallen asleep, seemingly oblivious to her waiting audience.

"Well then," Embarl sighed, rummaging through his backpack. "I guess we'll have to amuse ourselves for entertainment."

----------

Embarl had heard tales of the Friendly Arms, so he was quite excited by the prospect of spending a night under its roof and seeing if all the tales he'd heard were really true. He wasn't disappointed by their first glimpse of the stopover, either -- a towering building looming from within the tall, dark stone walls. It wasn't a welcoming sight, as such, but it only served to increase his eagerness to get inside and sample some of the famous hospitality while mingling with the various 'foreigners', as Rinnie had a tendency of calling them.

Two bored looking guards were standing beside a small ditch that had appeared to have been half-heartedly dug, then abandoned before it could become a proper moat. But, in order to keep the appearances up, a drawbridge of sorts had been build and placed over it. The guards eyed the party warily.

"Got a list o' rules we need t'go through before we can let ye in," said the elder of the two men, his greying hair kept short and tidy, and almost the same colour as his old looking plate armour. The younger man was standing just behind him, idly chewing on a blade of grass. Embarl grinned broadly -- he'd never seen such a display of countryside simplicity before.

"I see ye all be armed," the older man noted. "Fightin' ain't bein' permitted hereabouts, so ye'd best be warned that any sign o' hostility, and ye'll be ejected."

"We mean no trouble," Graham assured him.

"Aye," he replied, sounding completely unconvinced. "Anyways, as I was sayin'." He looked at Aefer. "No fightin', quarrelin'," he moved his stare to Embarl, "thievin', connin'," he continued, turning to Cotirso, "convertin', preachin'," he paused for a brief yawn, before cocking his head and looking over at Rinnie and Nara, "and absolutely no courtesans." He nodded amiably to Graham. "It's good te see ye again, lad."

While Nara gasped in outrage, Cotirso sniffed disdainfully and stuck his nose in the air. Aefer and Rinnie seemed to have been ignoring the very important rules, and were blissfully unaware of the implied insults levelled at them, though Embarl was glaring enough for all three of them. Graham had a hand over his mouth, looking suspiciously like he was hiding a smirk.

"Best get yersel's in then," the man sighed, waving them past lazily. "Ain't got time to stan' about here all day chit-chattin'."

"No, because you're obviously so very busy," muttered Embarl darkly, stalking past them as he led the group over the drawbridge and into the settlement. And then he paused, looking around himself with boyish grin. As well as the tall main building, which was obviously the Inn itself, there were a few houses nestled against the outer walls, and a mid-sized structure that was at the far side of the large courtyard. What appeared to be a small farm lay just past the fortress' entrance, and some cows and chickens roamed slowly around in a fenced off field as a man in a simple tunic and trousers leaned on the gate, watching them intently, despite their lack of activity.

A few women bustled past the group, carrying baskets full of wet washing as they headed towards two posts with a wire running between them. A few children could be seen, running around under the trees in a small orchard beside the stables and large sheds that homed the visiting caravans. One little boy was sitting at the edge of pond, where three horses were drinking under the careful eye of a fairly young looking girl.

Embarl sighed dreamily. So this was what country life was about.

They all trooped up a steep flight of stairs and into the inn, and Embarl marvelled quietly at the high ceiling, supported by several stone pillars evenly spaced out and running in two lines down the length of the room. At the far end was a large, polished, wooden bar, a range of drinks, both local and exotic, adorning the shelves hanging on the wall behind it. Aefer was staring dreamily at them, obviously in his element, and the fighter sat down immediately on the first stool he got to, ordering the first drink written on the board on the wall that read 'Daily Specials'.

Graham was leaning over the bar, talking quietly to... someone. Embarl looked around, but couldn't see anyone obviously near him. Cotirso and Nara had spied a free table amongst the fair crowd, and had homed in on it, while Rinnie had scouted over to a raised platform, seemingly assessing its potential. It was only when the thief approached the ranger, and happened to peer over the bar, that he saw the man.

"No need to look so surprised!" the gnome snapped. "I've misplaced my box, that's all... I'm sure it's around here, somewhere..."

Embarl nodded slowly and retreated, leaving the arrangement of rooms for the evening in Graham's capable hands. He took another look around the room -- a grand flight of stairs led up to the higher floors, a fairly nice carpet running up the middle. Many paintings hung on the wooden panelled walls, depicting battles and adventure, and making Embarl nod approvingly. Here he was at home -- surrounded by other adventurers and travellers, all seeking their fortune, all who had a home on the road. Just like him!

He strolled down the centre of the room, smiling to himself as he regarded his surroundings with a fondness that a king would reserve for a trip around his lands. It would still be light outside, and though there was much of interest here in the inn, he wanted to explore as much as he could before the night fell -- and he knew exactly where to start.

He virtually skipped down the stairs outside, only giving the smaller homes a cursory glance, and barely even looking over towards the stables. Embarl made his way straight towards the nearest building -- the second largest one in the settlement, and one which seemed to draw him in. He paused at the door -- there was something that looked worryingly like a holy symbol hanging from the wall, but he didn't recognise it. He gulped loudly; was his conscience trying to tell him that he needed a change of profession?

Slightly less confidently than before, he pushed the door open, recognising the inner sanctum of a temple quickly enough. Still he was compelled to enter, feeling a wave of serenity and peace wash over him. There was no one around except a small gnomish woman, who smiled kindly at him, and then disappeared behind a curtain that blocked off the back rooms. Embarl slowly looked around.

And then he smiled.

He smiled very widely.

He left quickly after, walking briskly back to the inn, wondering how to convince Cotirso to take a trip to a non-Lathanderian temple; it would be difficult, but necessary. Only Cotirso could insult and possibly antagonise the gnomish priestess enough to fully hold her attention, and it would be imperative that her concentration was elsewhere, and certainly not on Embarl.

After all, how else would he manage to prise out all of those gems and golden nuggets from the walls?


	17. Chapter 17

Embarl cautiously made his way back into the Friendly Arms, covering his ears with his hands as he picked his way between the tables, heading to the familiar faces of Cotirso, Nara and Graham. Aefer was still propping up the bar, though the grimace on his face clearly showed that the noise was just as unpleasant from his vantage point. When Embarl had managed to squirm into his seat without removing his hands, he leant over towards the others.

"Who killed the cat?" he shouted, trying to make himself heard over the din.

Nara just shook her head, and nodded over towards the platform in the corner. Embarl looked over; a large, middle-aged woman wearing far too much facial paint was standing in the centre, displaying her amazing lung capacity as she... 'sang'. Beside her, Rinnie was sitting on a stool, delicately plucking at the strings of a fine harp. You couldn't hear it, though.

"Apparently, Rinnie calls it 'karaoke'," Graham explained, looking apologetic on the bard's behalf. Embarl just stared blankly at him.

"She says it's when people take turns to sing odes and ballads," Cotirso yelled.

Embarl just nodded, a look of horror etched on his face. "Sounds... delightful," he shouted, somewhat unconvincingly. Unfortunately for him, the woman's song ended just a split-second before he finished speaking, and all eyes slowly fixed onto him in a sea of disbelief and wonderment.

To make matters worse, Rinnie stood up from her seat and waved at him. Foolishly, he gave a half-wave back, and was promptly beckoned to join her on the stage. He groaned. Nara snorted and buried her face in her sleeve to hide her laughing. He'd have glared at her, but he was fixated with the platform in abject terror.

"I think she wants you to go up," Graham noted observantly.

"You always said you couldn't say no to a pretty lady," Cotirso remarked. Embarl shot him a poisonous look. And then it started.

"Embarl, Embarl, Embarl!"

It was Aefer's voice. Then others joined in. And, suddenly, the whole place was clamouring for him to join the bardess on the stage. He wished the floor would just open up and swallow him whole.

"Go on then," Nara hissed. "Are you shy, or something?"

"I'm a rogue," he muttered darkly, standing up reluctantly. "It's not my _job_ to be in the limelight!"

"Go on," Nara said slyly. "You never know. You might enjoy it!"

He grumbled obscenities to himself as he picked his way through the tables, making his way over to the platform as slowly as he could. Around him, everyone was chanting his name merrily and clapping their hands, and Rinnie was smiling over to him in an encouraging manner. When he eventually reached her, he shuffled over to her side and bent over to whisper in her ear.

"You don't want me to... _sing_, do you?"

She blinked once at him, then dissolved into a fit of girlish giggles, nodding. He sighed heavily.

"I don't know the words to any-"

"Here!" A piece of paper was thrust into his hands, covered in neat, small handwriting. Embarl cursed his parents for ensuring he was taught how to read and write. "It's my latest composition," Rinnie continued, almost bashfully. "I thought you might want to sing it, for me? I will play... you're such a music lover that you should be able to keep up no problem!"

"Well, er, I-"

"Great!" she announced, pushing him away so that he stumbled into the middle of the platform. Everyone clapped again briefly, before settling into an expectant silence. He heard the plucking of the harp to his right, and with a shaking hand, he raised the paper up to try and read the words, opened his mouth... and sang.

--

Embarl staggered upstairs to his room, giddy from the experience, adrenaline pumping in his veins. He'd done it -- he'd really _done_ it! He'd stood there, on the platform, and sang for the patrons... and they'd _loved_ it!

He hiccupped and sniggered to himself, swaying slightly as he held onto the banister. He'd had one or two drinks that his adoring audience had bought for him because it would have been rude to have declined. The rest of his companions had gone to bed hours before, but Embarl had stayed downstairs until the very last person had left. Who was he to deny them his amazing voice and super talents if they wanted an encore?

Suddenly he didn't feel very sleepy; the memory of his time in the spotlight was enough to stir his adventurous streak and he idly remembered the temple he'd been in earlier. A chance to convince Cotirso to be his distraction hadn't appeared, and they were to be leaving the next day as they continued south. It might be his last chance... and even clerics need to sleep sometimes, don't they?

He giggled at his amazing logic skills and padded softly towards his room, unlocking the door quietly and retrieving his backpack. It was bigger than his pockets, and would be able to hold more of his ill-gotten gains. He paused for a second, a brief moment of clarity fighting its way through his drunken and adrenaline fuelled energy. How was he going to get the gems out of the wall? They looked pretty well embedded, after all.

And then he thought back to the dwarf who'd suggested Embarl's first song for his encore. _Of course_...

As quietly as he could, he made his way back to the landing, and wondered which room his target would have. He tiptoed along, listening outside each door until he came across a snoring so intense and loud that he first became aware of it half a corridor away. With a solemn nod, he pulled his lock pick free from his pocket and got to work.

Several minutes later, the snoring was still going on, and Embarl was exiting the bedroom; smiling deliriously, hammer and chisel in hand.

Mask favoured Embarl that night, for not only was there just enough moonlight filtering through the breaks in the clouds to allow Embarl to pick his way over to the temple while staying out of the sight of the patrolling guardsmen, but the temple door was unlocked, and a quick and almost stealthy scout around suggested that the building was apparently empty.

The thief could barely believe his luck. There was one single ante-room, devoid of life, and a bedroom towards the back which also lay empty. He walked along the walls of the main room, letting his fingers run over the jutting out jewels.

"Ah, my precious," he whispered to himself, before giggling inanely. He clasped one hand over his mouth, just in _case_ any of the guards happened to come nearby, then scoped around the chamber for the best place to start.

When he'd settled on a particularly gem-infused part of the wall, he carefully laid down his cloth bags, opening them so that they were ready to accept the bounty he'd discovered. And then he delicately placed the chisel to the side of a ruby as big as his fist, and drew back the hammer.

There was virtually no sound as the wall cracked slightly, a rent appearing in the stone surrounding the gems. The ruby shifted slightly, tantalisingly jutting out a bit more than previously, but still firmly embedded within the wall. Embarl gave it a half fond, half stern look, tutting at it as if it were maid who was playing coy after leading the rogue to her bedroom.

"You want me to make the extra effort, hmm?" He readjusted the chisel's position and drew back the hammer again. This time, there was a faint cracking noise, then the dull thud of a heavy gem landing on the carpeted floor. Embarl barely contained his whoop of joy as he snatched the jewel up and planted a slobbery kiss on its shiny surface.

"By Mask, yer a pretty 'un!" he drawled, copying the accent he'd heard so frequently back in the Athkatlan docks. He turned to place the gem in his bag, a little too quickly, and swayed dangerously as he deposited his goods. He giggled drunkenly at his state and tried to concentrate on standing up straight. He closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and finally thought he was stable enough to move again. He opened his eyes.

He screamed.

Standing in front of him was a short figure in bright purple robes, wearing a golden helmet and matching gold belt. A massively large nose protruded from an otherwise wrinkled face; Embarl noted that the lines didn't appear to be from age, as such, but from the mischievous grin and glint in the gnome's eyes-

"Am I dead?" the thief asked. He was sure he could still feel the hammer and chisel in his hands, but it was always best to make sure. He didn't want to look around for his body because it meant taking his eyes away from the strange creature in front of him.

"Oh, no, most definitely not!" the figure exclaimed cheerfully.

Embarl wasn't sure if this made him more or less relieved.

"Are you, uh, the proprietor?" he hazarded.

The gnome shook his head happily.

"One of the, er, priests?"

The gnome's hand rose to his face and he thoughtfully tapped his lip with one finger. "Hmm. Is that a trick question?" the stranger asked.

Embarl stared blankly at him. "No?" he queried in return, wondering if it was _him _who was facing a trick question.

"Ah, then… no," the gnome decided. "Not as such, anyway. Though you're close."

"I… see."

"So, are you a builder?" the gnome queried

The rogue looked down at the instruments in his hands, and then back up at the gnome. He was still smiling. Embarl felt sweat forming on his forehead.

"The builder… yes. Yes, that's _exactly_ who I am."

The stranger nodded and peered past Embarl at the wall. The smile faded, and a small frown appeared. "Have you been a builder for long?"

"All my life," Embarl replied hazily. He was starting to see two of the gnomes, and he felt quite sick.

"I would have thought you would have noticed the large crack in the wall, then."

Embarl snorted derisively. "It's not a crack," he argued, turning back, slowly, to the wall. "It's just a- BY MASK'S PAINTED HAIR!"

The rent in the wall had expanded quite significantly, and was still growing every second. The pieces of stone were starting to separate and, one by one, gems of various designs were beginning to drop down to the ground. Embarl spun back around to the gnome.

"Are you _sure_ I'm not dead?" he asked urgently. "Because it's raining gems!"

The gnome was definitely not smiling. Nor was he a he, any more. And Embarl had no idea where the two towering Keep guards had appeared from, flanking the strange woman. "No, you are most assuredly not dead – though I've got a good mind to make you wish you were for such trespass! Get him!"

Embarl opened his mouth to protest; to ask where the other guy had gone. But before he could say anything, one of the guards had clubbed him over the head, and everything went black.

--

When Embarl awoke, his head was thumping. He could _feel_ the sunlight attacking him, and so he kept his eyes clenched shut, trying to roll over to avoid the glare. His bed was hard; much harder than he thought it should be. And it felt… almost… grassy…

He sat up with a start, causing him to feel dizzy and nauseous; but neither could take away from the fact that Embarl was not, as he'd expected, tucked up into a soft, comfortable bed in the Friendly Arms Inn. Instead, he was lying in what appeared to be a ditch full of overgrown grass. Thankfully, it was quite dry.

He scrambled to his feet and tried to take a few steps forward, successfully tripping over something hidden in the undergrowth, and stubbing his toe painfully. After a stream of expletives had passed, he rummaged through the ferns and leaves to find the culprit, and lifted up an innocuous looking hammer and a plan chisel. He frowned; something was lingering on the edge of his memory, but it wasn't quite coming to him. What _had_ he done, this time?

He climbed out of the ditch and then looked down at his clothes. There was no bag; his belongings were… well, he assumed they were still in the inn. This meant he had a room. So _why_ on earth had he decided to sleep out here?

He noticed that he'd not managed to stray far, at least; the ditch he'd slept in was part of the mock-moat around the inn, and so he shambled over to the drawbridge, trying to mumble a good morning to the guards. To his surprise, they barred his way.

"Sorry sir," a fresh-faced youth told him civilly. "Can't be lettin' you in."

Embarl stared at him. "Why not?" he asked simply.

The guards exchanged a look. "Wouldn't be right," the young one said.

"Especially after last night," his older companion agreed. The two of them nodded sagely.

"An' anyway, you're barred."

Embarl kept staring at the young guard. After a few moments, the man shifted uncomfortably under the unblinking gaze. "I'm… barred?" he questioned. On the edge of his conscious thought, he was vaguely aware of something shiny and alluring.

The two guards nodded in unison.

"You mighta just been given inta trouble," one of them continued, his tone suggesting that he hoped he was being helpful, "had the Western wall not fallen down completely."

Embarl stood on his tiptoes and craned his neck to peer past the guards and into the grounds beyond. Everything _looked _perfectly to him. The Friendly Arms itself was still standing tall, and the stables were looking no more run down than they had when he'd arrived. The fountain was still spouting forth water, the grassy orchard looked as peaceful as usual, and the temple was only collapsing on one side.

So everything was…

"Oh Gods," Embarl muttered to himself, looking at the rubble of the temple's wall. It seemed that the other three walls were still managing to hold up the roof, and a few people were seemingly investigating the scene, parchment and quills in hand. A small female gnome was standing beside them, and she glared over to Embarl venomously when she spotted him.

"Did I…" He didn't even bother finishing the question. He remembered _everything_ and suddenly he felt quite sick again. "Uh… would you be able to let my friends know?" he asked weakly, stumbling away as the guards offered sympathetic nods. His legs felt shaky, and he moved away from the immediate vicinity of the drawbridge, and slightly away from the road, lowering himself down on an upturned tree trunk. He remembered it _all_.

He groaned, allowing his head to sink into his hands, his elbows resting atop his knees. Just when things had been looking so right, he'd allowed himself to get stupidly drunk and become barred – _barred!_ – from a proper adventurers' inn.

Barred... just like proper, tough adventurers, that picked fights, and had brawls!

And then he smiled. He raised his head from his hands, grinning widely. A gnome smiled back at him, and he started; but the gnomish man, the same as he'd seen in the temple before it fell down, only winked at him, pointed to Embarl's left pocket, and vanished. The thief frowned, and tentatively patted his side, feeling a large, hard presence in his tunic pouch. Hesitantly, he reached inside, and drew out the offending object.

A large red ruby glinted back up at him warmly, and his smile returned. He whispered a silent thank you to the gnome, carefully wrapped the gem in one of his spare handkerchiefs and returned it to the safety of his pocket. Then he leaned back against another tree, basking in the sunlight, and sighed contentedly as he realised that only _now_ – now he'd been barred from a well known establishment, was he truly beginning to make a name for himself.


End file.
